Search - Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Guarneri Quartet :: Schumann: Piano Quintet in Ef Op44; Brahms: Piano Quintet in Fm, Op34

The absolute pinnacle of musical heights!

Happy in NYC | New York, NY United States | 06/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I owned this recording on disk 20 years ago, and when the transition to CD's happened, this was one of my happiest first purchases. The recording of these two masterpieces is among the most beloved in all of recording history. The warm, romantic sound of the Guarneri Quartet at the height of their careers is here coupled with one of the towering giants of pianism in the 20th century, Artur Rubinstein!! This is one CD you will listen to over and over. Both of these works are infectiously beautiful, but merit repeated listening. The mastery of the counterpoint and the interplay between the piano and the strings, the seemingly bottomless well of rich melodic ideas and melodic development, the idiomatic knowledge of all the instruments -- Schumann and Brahmns were both at the top of their game here. You will enjoy this disk for years to come, and hopefully will continue your appreciation of chamber music. I'd recommend that your next purchase would be of the Brahms piano quartets, and then . . ."

So sad that such a great disk is in limited availability!

Craig Matteson | Ann Arbor, MI | 07/07/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is such a magnificent recording that it should NOT now or ever be in limited availability. This was from the time when the great Guarneri Quartet was beginning their career and Rubinstein was in his late maturity.These are performances full of passion, insight, fire, and complete mastery.The music is from my favorite styles in both Brahms and Schumann. By the time they tackled these quintets they were complete masters and they were able to give us eternal tresures in this rather difficult compositional form.I am so grateful to have this in my collection. Whoever is in charge of what stays in the current catalog should bring back the Guarneri and Rubenstein disks!"

The Best of the Best

Octavius | United States | 10/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Any one who would say that there is now a better performance available of either Brahm's Quintet Op. 34a or Schumann's Quintet Op. 44 would be a fool or a liar. The performances here are legendary in their absolute perfection in interpretation: no one even comes close. It is here one can see why Rubinstein was such a genius of a pianist whose standard is yet to be surpassed by even the most talented. Ten stars would not be enough to rate this performance. The label seems to be discontinuing various CDs where both Rubinstein and the Guarneri Quartet performed together such as Mozart's Piano Quartets which are equally divine. Get these while you can before they become too rare and expensive.

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