Search - Schoenberg, Brahms, Schulte :: Violin Cto / Piano Quartet in G Minor

Fall in love with Schoenberg

Brett Stewart | Madison, WI United States | 07/30/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although I was familiar with Schoenberg's works before I bought this cd, I still found them to be a little sour. I decided to hear his transcription of the Brahms Piano Quartet, so this was the first disk I found. I was amazed! You can really tell Schoenberg's love of Brahms through the detail in his transcription, turning the piece into a pseudo-Symphony No. 0. After hearing the transcription I was sure that Schoenberg was a genious and in fact knew exactly what he was doing (he was a self trained composer, remember). This feeling of genious carried over to the Violin Concerto and I loved it. This is, perhaps, one of Schoenberg's most atonal of works, yet the musicians on this disk play like a Beethoven concerto. You can tell that much of the performances of Schoenberg are caught up in the atonality and serialism of the works and not just simply playing them. I recommend this disk for anyone who is unsure about whether to spend time trying to 'get' Schoenberg, because it is all to easy with this disk."

Brahms, Schoenberg & Craft

Félszem? Farkaskutya (Call me Wolfi | Lexington, VA United States | 03/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a high point in Craft's unfailingly excellent Schoenberg series, which is continuing now on Naxos. The Koch volumes are hard to find but well worth seeking out.



Schoenberg is "only" the orchestrator for the Brahms quartet, but the piece plays like a great collaboration between the two. The music is pure Brahms, and luxurious at that, but Schoenberg turns it into a stunningly succesful orchestral work with more clarity and more colors than you might have expected from Brahms' own pen.



The violin concerto gets its due and more here, sounding for once every bit the equal of Berg's much better known work. It's a mature 12-tone work, and mostly atonal with some tonal allusions, but it's not incomprehensible or ugly - actually, it's a pleasure from the surprisingly memorable opening to the finale, a typical weak spot in much atonal music, which comes off here as majestic and satisfying.



The disc is generous, with 1h17m of music and extensive liner notes from Craft, and bears listening many times."