For technical finesse and ensemble sophistication alone, pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and the Artemis Quartet set new standards in a field packed with worthy Schumann and Brahms Piano Quintet contenders. The brisk tempos do not faze the players’ extraordinary poise and control at all, and even the thickly-textured finale codas boast rare definition from top to bottom. Because the Artemis Quartet rightly disdains the “one vibrato fits all” school of string playing, a wider expressive and timbral palette informs slow sustained single notes and chords. You’ll especially notice this in the Schumann Quintet’s atypically fast second movement and in the Brahms’ first-movement development section. And whereas most ensembles unfold the finale’s Poco sostenuto introduction with a measured tread, Andsnes and his colleagues feel the music at a sprightlier two beats to a bar, as Brahms notates.
Schumann’s Molto Vivace particularly showcases the seamless alignment and unanimity of phrasing, accentuation, and dynamic shading between pianist and quartet, although Serkin/Budapest and Argerich/Schwarzberg/Hall/Imai/Maisky offer greater intensity and kinetic involvement. Among uncoupled Schumann and Brahms Quintet recordings, I lean toward the aforementioned 1992 Argerich edition’s more personalized profile, along with the greater willingness to embrace Brahms’ espressivo directives and roomier sonics that distinguish Fleisher/Emerson on DG. However, those who desire the Schumann and Brahms on one disc cannot do better than this supremely accomplished and excellently engineered release. [12/3/2007]
