Search - Johannes Brahms, Emanuel Ax :: Brahms: String Sextets, Opp. 18 & 36; Theme and Variations for Piano

Listen but don't stop here

D. Jack Elliot | Omaha, Nebraska | 12/06/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These discs are quite satisfying; if the rating system here ranged from one to ten stars, I'd give them a seven. They belong in any collection of chamber music.If you like these pieces, listen both to these readings and to those of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, on Chandos. Ma, Stern, and company give very American readings where the St. Martin ensemble's seem to me very British: the former being large, enthusiastic, robust, where the latter are more about understatement, balance, refinement. Both approaches work well, though I'd give the St. Martin disc eight stars to the seven here."

A cherished tradition in chamber music continues

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 12/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The two-star reviewer has had an idiosyncratic reaction. The tempos taken in both sextets are well within normal limits, and there's plenty of energy throughout. (He must be used to a beloved recording made by speed demons -- Heifetz and friends, perhaps?) Leaving that aside, I am in total agreemnt with everything Mr. Richman says in praise of these stellar performances. Going back to the days of 78s and Pablo Casals' summer festivals in the postwar era, Columbia/Sony made a commitment to chamber music that has built up a treasury of great performances -- these Brahms Sextets join that legacy.



The constant theme over the span of six decades was the use of virtuoso soloists coming together for the love of playing chamber music. In the Marlboro years the core group were European emigres centered around Casals, Rudolf Serkin and the Budapest Qt. They were updated by Ma-Stern-Ax, with just as briliant success (Isaac Stern bridges both eras, since he was there at the beginning). But be prepared for hearing highly individual musicians each striving for utmost expression. If you prefer the smooth, homogenized sound of groups like the Nash or Raphael ensembles, the varitety found here may sound a bit rough and ready.



Yet no one can dispute the sublime musicianship on these CDs. It may well be, as another reviewer says, that the Brahms Sextets have never received a more glowing, inspired reading."