Brahms Piano Quartets on Pentatone RQR

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I have to say that this set really impresses me. The Beaux Arts Trio (with Walter Trampler), with fine ensemble playing and near-perfect balance, do a great job illuminating what can become very turgid Romantic works in the wrong hands.
The sonics, to my taste, are excellent. This is how I wish all chamber music were recorded. The perspective is not too close, in a smallish room with fairly dry acoustics. This leads to each instrument being clearly defined in a wide (but not too wide) and surprisingly deep soundstage. Unlike (just for example) the rather reverberant recording of Beethoven Cello sonatas with Wispelwey on Channel Classics, the piano on this Brahms set is appropriately scaled - not twenty feet wide.
Although the recording was made in 1973, the master tapes are apparently in very good condition as opposed to many of the late-50's RCA Living Stereo tapes. There is a minimum of tape hiss and no discernable drop-outs or distortion related to tape deterioration.
Although there's no center channel in these quad recordings (obviously), the phantom center effect is uncanny. About half of the RQR recordings I have are excellent in this respect, the other half are not as successful. There's very little sound from the rear speakers and the players are always perceived as well in front of you, even on the loudest passages. In fact there's so little going on in the rear channels that I thought the stereo layer would sound nearly identical and just as pleasing. Not so. In stereo, the depth of soundstage collapses slightly and the clarity of the ensemble playing is diminished. Sorry to the stereo diehards, but this one's clearly superior in multichannel.

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Topic - Brahms Piano Quartets on Pentatone RQR - Dalton 20:47:06 03/13/06 (7)

Re: Brahms Piano Quartets on Pentatone RQR - Doktor Brahms 11:05:13 03/15/06 (2)

Re. Abbado. - OwlGlass 18:58:32 03/15/06 (1)

Re: Re. Abbado. - Doktor Brahms 08:37:00 03/16/06 (0)

Re: Brahms Piano Quartets on Pentatone RQR - Doktor Brahms 10:58:30 03/15/06 (1)

Sorry about the duplicate post! [NT] - Doktor Brahms 11:06:48 03/15/06 (0)

Re: Brahms Piano Quartets on Pentatone RQR - Thornhill 08:30:59 03/14/06 (1)

Both are fine recordings. - Dalton 14:18:19 03/14/06 (0)

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