Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
String Sextet No. 1 in B flat Major, op. 18 (1860) [37:24]
String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, op. 36 (1865) [38:15]
Belcea Quartet
Tabea Zimmerman (viola)
Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello)
rec. March 2021, Konzerthaus, Vienna
ALPHA 792 [75:54]
I love these two chamber works and my go-to recording for thirty years has been that by the Academy of St Martin-the-Fields Ensemble headed by Kenneth Sillitoe. Being imprinted by that recording, I was wary of being irrationally resistant to anything new but immediately noticed that despite the age gap, there was very little difference between them in terms of sound, timings or affect. However, I still prefer the marginally greater momentum of the opening bars of No. 1 and the slightly more prominent, sweeter vibrato of Sillitoe’s lead violin, albeit that these differences are again marginal. The approach throughout of the augmented Belcea Quartet is a little more lyrical and reflective than the more dynamic ASMF and that is first most apparent ten minutes into the Allegro ma non troppo opening movement of No. 1, where I feel that the stretto passage requires more bite and in general I think the long melodies sing more eloquently in the earlier recording. Similarly, the ASMF give the sombre D minor/major variations of the Andante second movement have more gravitas, although the sound engineering there is a little muddier than in the new recording. The ostensibly cheerful, bouncy Scherzo clearly owes much to Beethoven as a model and the Belcea ensemble brings out its underlying Angst through careful gradation of tempo and dynamics, gradually ramping up the intensity and the coda is suitably urgent. The Rondo finale is indeed “grazioso” – very elegantly played with a Viennese lilt and affection.
Until I looked it up, I was under the false impression that the second sextet was written a good many years after the first, as there is considerable stylistic development between the two, but in fact only four or five years separates them. In that intervening period, however, several events darkened Brahms’ life, resulting in its more elegiac and regretful mood; as usual, critics were sniffy but their verdict has long looked fatuous and the work is acknowledged as a masterpiece, a fact apparent from its first poignant, soaring theme - beautifully and tenderly played here. Indeed, the generally more delicate demeanour of the Belcea is, I think, more suited to the second string sextet, as the piece itself is more intimate and understated than the first. As in the finale of the first sextet, the Belcea ensemble brings out its gentle, three-quarter-time charm. Continuing the prevailing subtlety of the work, the Scherzo is an intermezzo in all but name and again suits the players’ finesse; only in the Trio is there a need to apply some brio – which they do. The quasi-variations of the mournful slow movement with its mildly disturbing dissonances and slowly descending figures are most feelingly delineated and they neatly capture the ambivalence of mood pervading the finale, adroitly and adeptly executing its filigree runs.
Ensemble is faultless and the sound balances between instruments ideal. Attractively packaged in a slim cardboard digipack with trilingual notes, this new recording of two central, profoundly beautiful chamber works is very satisfying but does not shift my established loyalty to the older ASMF version.
Ralph Moore
