Search - Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Faure, Artur Rubinstein :: Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 74

Wonderful Rubinstein

kevin Henry | England | 01/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD makes a mockery of present day standards. To listen to the light touch, the easy "tempo giusto", the natural rubato, and the interplay with the young Guarneri, who play beautifully, without being relegated to a supporting role as with other Big Name guests of other quartets, make this performane one of my very favourites in the whole Rubinstein Edition. The sounds quality too is excellent. I have a reasonably expensive play back system including micromega stage 6 cd player, and the CD sounds superb, with little indication of the age of the recording. BUY!"

One of the winners from the collaboration of Rubinstein and

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 05/11/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been following the trail of Rbunstein's Brahms, and it has led me to some outstanding chamber performances. These date from the last decade of the pianist's long life -- he died in 1981, age 95. In his mid to late eighties he gave us rejuvenated readings with the young Guarneri Qt. of many standard works of the chamber repertory, and the Brahms is uniformly impressive. A quote from the Gramophone: "In his Memoirs Rubinstein tells us that as a very young boy studying in Berlin, his first all-consuming passion was Brahms. His playing here leaves no doubt that despite the subsequent counterclaims of Chopin, it was a love that never waned." there is total, warm involvement throughout this reading of the Piano Quartet no. 2. Rubinstein's perceptive playing dominates, although the RCA engineers stuck their mikes inches away from the string players, giving us maximum sonic impact, more than we'd get in the concert hall, in fact.



I know tis work mostly from the Sony recording with Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo, Yo-Yo Ma, and Emanuel Ax -- sterling exponents of Brahms's chamber works but here outdone by more graceful, natural playing. If you want to hear tis music sounding rougher and more aggressively attacked, the Sony recording is for you, but it's hard while listening to the Poco adagio slow movement to believe that it could be played more tenderly than by Rubinstein and friends. (the absurd price being asked at Amazon Marketplace can be bypsssed if you look at online download sites.)



The companion piece, Faure's Piano Quartet no. 1 is given an equally persuasive performance, also in good sound, but this time with the string quartet predominating, since the piano part is not as prominent as in Brahms's chamber music. The mood is fresh and relaxed. I'm not a great fan of the work itself, but while I was listening I gained some real enjoyment. In sum, this is a high point in the immense Rubinstein Collection from RCA, which doesn't always represent him at his best."