[robert]

if you can find them: Beethoven quartets by the Tokyo String Quartet. what makes them "different" is that the recordings were engineered by Elite Recordings (Marc Arbout (sp???, i can never remember)). his notion was that localization common in stereo engineering was faux. and, for those who have been in a concert hall performance of a quartet (i was, once), he was right. the sound is not localized; we see the cello, and associate its sound with where we see it.

so, you hear this sort of fog of sound. i didn't like it at all. i've never listened to the discs more than about once. but it does offer a very unique sonic perspective. from what i read, he always engineered that way.

 

[mickelae]

faure violin sonatas,
franck violin sonata,
glass string quartets,
brahms piano trios, piano quintet, piano quartets, string quartets, clarinet quintet, string sextets
part fratres (violin and piano version)

 

[JohnFerrier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robert if you can find them: Beethoven quartets by the Tokyo String Quartet. what makes them "different" is that the recordings were engineered by Elite Recordings (Marc Arbout (sp???, i can never remember)). his notion was that localization common in stereo engineering was faux. and, for those who have been in a concert hall performance of a quartet (i was, once), he was right. the sound is not localized; we see the cello, and associate its sound with where we see it. so, you hear this sort of fog of sound. i didn't like it at all. i've never listened to the discs more than about once. but it does offer a very unique sonic perspective. from what i read, he always engineered that way.

Interesting. I'll try the following disc involving Marc Aubort Cohn: The Mount Gretna Suite which "Mr Tam-tam" gave a 10/10. "They are, one and all, superb, and the recording, produced by the legendary team of Joanna Nickrenz and Marc Aubort, shares a similarly distinctive pedigree." The samples sound favorable. Couldn't find the Beethoven (LvanB isn't working for me anyway).

 

[daycart1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda My absolute favourite ones: - Schubert String Quintet in C (I think no CD collection should be without a recording of this performance...) - Beethoven String Quartets (same for this collection although complete sets are usually pretty expensive) - Brahms Clarinet Quintets - Bach Art of the Fugue

The Brahms is at the top of my list, followed by the Schubert.
I'd add the Franck Piano Quintet.
Then a bunch of other stuff already mentioned!

 

[Ferbose]

OMG, the scope of this thread is so big.
I only have about 100 CDs of chamber music, which is really nothing compared to the more knowledgeable people here.
My favorite happens to be a rarely performed piece by Tchaikovsky, whose orchestral pieces are so good that people conveniently overlook his chamber music output.
It is Tchaikovsky's piano trio, op. 50. I happen to have a Naxos recording, which is just "superb" in sonics, interpretation and musical intensity. I personally don't think Tchaikovsky has written anything more passionate than this piece, at least not from what I have heard (symphonies 4-6, ballets, piano and violin concertos, Romeo and Juliet, 1812, etc). And I have not yet heard another composer whose music could match the sheer (manic?) passion of Tchaikovsky's.
You can read more about some thoughts on this particular CD in this thread:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=116143

 

[Bunnyears]

Here is the recording that I have been playing recently:

Taneyev: Chamber Music with an all star cast of performers.

 

[zhentil]

Not only is this subject area vast, most of it is exquisite. It's very difficult to go wrong.

Beethoven - String Quartets and Piano Sonatas contain his most original and creative work, but his Piano Trios, Cellos Sonatas, and Violin Sonatas are very pleasant as well.

Schubert - All of it, but especially his late piano sonatas, Death and the Maiden quartet, and String Quintet.

Brahms - Again, all of it, though I am partial to his Cello Sonatas and Horn Trio. Though some have mentioned his string quartets, I feel he knew he could never compete with the Master (LvB) at these, and they suffered from it. Also, an absolute must-own is the Gould album of his Ballades and Intermezzi. And the Katchen set of his solo piano music. Just get it all.

Mendelssohn - String quartet (not sure how many he wrote, but the famous one), octet

Dvorak - American quartet, Dumky trio, Piano quintet

Shostakovich - String quartets. Phenomenal, moving stuff. The Fitzwilliam set is top-notch and very reasonably priced. Also, the Piano Trio #2 (with the famous Klezmer theme) and Piano Quintet can't be missed.

Feel overwhelmed? I could probably put together a "starter set" with 100 cds in it. So I'll make a list of the crowd favorites:

Beethoven - String Quartet op. 132, Kreutzer Sonata, Archduke Trio
Schubert - Death and the Maiden Quartet, String Quintet, Sonata d960
Shostakovich - Piano Trio #2, String Quartet #8
Dvorak - American quartet

 

[JohnFerrier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robert if you can find them: Beethoven quartets by the Tokyo String Quartet. what makes them "different" is that the recordings were engineered by Elite Recordings (Marc Arbout (sp???, i can never remember)). his notion was that localization common in stereo engineering was faux.

Arrival of a Marc Aubort recording.



Very engaging. Guess it's Marc's style--it's not specifically a bi-aural recording--the imaging well suits headphone listening. Pleasant contemporary chamber music.

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears Eccles, Boccherini, Couperin, all composed chamberworks.

Indeed. Just got a recording (second hand) of Couperin's
"Les Nations" by Reinhard Goebel and his band MAK which
won the French Grand Prix National du Disque in 1984:



This is hardly in the same sentimental school of performing
French baroque music chapioned by Jordi Savall, most notably
in his OST recording for the movie "Tous les Matins du Monde,"
and yet I found Goebel's interpretation of Couperin equally
appealing if not more so: the cheerful combination of energy
and poise that marks his later recordings of Lully (OST
"Le Roi Danse") and Charpentier is evident here, rendering
Couperin not so much lyricism as pure charm and genius.

Quote:

The one thing I do know is that Mahler did not compose for the Chamber. He was a Big Band kind of guy.

There is a piano quartet movement (in A minor) composed by
Mahler in his early years which had not perished with his other
attempts at chamber music and even received a few recordings.

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masolino There is a piano quartet movement (in A minor) composed by Mahler in his early years which had not perished with his other attempts at chamber music and even received a few recordings.

Incomplete conservatory homework assignments don't count.

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears Incomplete conservatory homework assignments don't count.

But the movement itself can't be more complete!

 

[daycart1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masolino But the movement itself can't be more complete!

I've got a vinyl of this with Idil Biret and a pickup trio--very enjoyable, actually!

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daycart1 I've got a vinyl of this with Idil Biret and a pickup trio--very enjoyable, actually!

Considering the fact that Mahler pretty much destoryed or managed to lose all his other chamber music works, maybe the composer thought about it the same way!

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masolino Considering the fact that Mahler pretty much destoryed or managed to lose all his other chamber music works, maybe the composer thought about it the same way!

I told you, he was a big band sort of guy. At the very least he could have made chamber arrangements of his lieder and I haven't heard of any of those either.

 

[daycart1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears I told you, he was a big band sort of guy. At the very least he could have made chamber arrangements of his lieder and I haven't heard of any of those either.

There are piano reductions of some of the Ruekert leider and other leider, too. There is a great recording of these with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Lenny Bernstein!