Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Emanuel Ax :: Schumann: Piano Quartet in Ef Op 47; Beethoven: Quartet in Ef Op 16

A lovely recording of two works overshadowed by quintets

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 03/11/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD dates from an era (which looks like a golden age now) when Sony was a serious company for chamber music, pulling from its starry roster the best of Marlboro and Carnegie Hall. The musicianship here is unsurpassed, and of course the players were established stars or superstars in the making. I wasn't attracted initially, however, since the Beethoven Piano Quartet is half a loaf, a none-too-special arrangement of the more colorful Quintet for Piano and Winds. The original (Op. 16, with this arrangement numbered Op. 16a) was modeled on Mozart's masterpiece with the same instrumentation, and at its best it still falls in the shadow of the earlier work. The piano quartet version is likable but hardly essential. The string parts are fairly anonymous, but Ax saves the day with a sparkling account of the piano part, which was meant for Beethoven himself.



The Schumann Piano Quartet similarly lies in the shadow of the more famous Piano Quintet (the same holds true, oddly, for works by Brahms and Dvorak), but there have been notable readings led by Rudolf Serkin and Glenn Gould, both on Sony. That testifies to the quality of the work, which is very high. Here I think Ax is not quite passionate enough to match Schumann's intention, and subsequently the string playing is a bit low-key, too. The Scherzo, marked Molto vivace, isn't reckless or mercurial enough. An absence of risk-taking is apparent elsewhere, too. This is very assured, very musical playing, but not the acme. I wouldn't argue with anyone who awarded five stars, however, and when listening to the moving Andante cantabile of the Schumann, it's easy to believe that nothing better could exist."