Tír Na HiFi

Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 2
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly

....the Piano Trios

On Lyric:
Gustav Mahler
Symphony no. 4
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Mariss Jansons, conductor
Miah Persson, soprano

[Recorded live at the National Concert Hall on March 26th ]

Over the past few nights I've been listening to this quite exceptional box set.



The first thing that strikes me about these performances is their sheer clarity. Unlike many string quartets which aim for a homogenised group sound that is dominated by the first violin, the Budapest Quartet display a very democratic approach to the music that enables the listener to really hear what each musician is playing. Of course, the transparency of the recording plays a part in this as well, but my overriding impression was of a group that was actively listening and responding to each member's contributions. There is a palpable sense of allowing the music to simply evolve and develop with no dynamic exaggerations or any tendency to rush or to linger unnecessarily. Side-by-side comparisions with later cycles by the Italian Quartet, the Takacs Quartet and the Tokyo Quartet will come later, but my initial impressions are extremely enthusiastic. Simply put, the Budapest's performances concede absolutely nothing to these later groups.

Seán wrote:On Lyric:
Gustav Mahler
Symphony no. 4
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Mariss Jansons, conductor
Miah Persson, soprano

[Recorded live at the National Concert Hall on March 26th ]

I had the pleasure of attending that concert, Sean, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Fabulous playing from the orchestra and Ms. Persson sang quite beautifully. Good performance of the Shostakovich Ninth as well.

I have been working my way through this set recently....

This is wonderful, attractive and beguiling music that is well played and very easy on the ear.