You’ll often find Brahms’ Op. 115 Clarinet Quintet coupled with the Op. 34 Piano Quintet in F minor, so this pairing with the Quintet for Strings Op. 111 makes a useful alternative. Both performances are strongly committed, with recorded sound of high quality adding further value to this mid-priced reissue. Op. 111 finds the Melos Quartet joined by violist Gérard Caussé in a rich-hued and sonorous account. The recording (which is never top-heavy) conveys Brahms’ dense middle-register layering (provided by second violin and the two violas) to telling effect. Compared to the Sony version by the Juilliard Quartet with Walter Trampler, it’s darker and more intensely lyrical, with the interplay between the violists memorably eloquent during the Adagio. The Juilliard version has the edge, though, in the faster outer movements, but not by much. Its slightly slower basic tempo in the first Allegro gives the music a more symphonic solidity, and in the finale it’s good to find Brahms’ “non troppo presto” direction heeded, something that the Melos overlooks occasionally in its headlong but spirited performance.
At full price, the Juilliard/Charles Neidich account of the Clarinet Quintet also is more measured and poignant than the Melos/Portal version, though the latter is very well played. Michel Portal has a woodier sound than Neidich, perhaps slightly better suited to the autumnal mood of the piece, though Neidich’s exemplary breath control helps him spin out Brahms’ long-arched phrases seamlessly–and for the extra outlay you’ll also get a demonstration-quality recording. The downside is that Sony offers the Clarinet Quintet with the three string quartets, which you might not need, on two full-price CDs. Richard Stoltzman and the Tokyo Quartet on RCA combine it with Weber’s exuberant quartet, but if you’re after a useful bargain version, and don’t mind an unusual coupling, the Melos and Portal shouldn’t disappoint.
