Two generations back, Brahms' chamber players stressed soul and sentimentality and a wide vibrato, plenty of tempo rubato, and a generous helping of portimento were the basic interpretive tools, while intonation, ensemble, and technique were of secondary concern. Brahms' chamber players one generation back, on the other hand, stressed sense and virtuosity and let soul and sentimentality take the backseat. Finally, the current generation of Brahms' players has combined whole-hearted expressivity and full-bodied virtuosity, and the result is performances like those on these 2007 recordings of the German Romantic's G minor and C minor piano quartets by England's
Nash Ensemble. Here, the playing is strong, tight, and in tune -- listen to the astoundingly forceful and astonishingly together performance of the C minor Quartet's Scherzo -- but the interpretations are powerful, soulful, and deeply expressive -- listen to the rousing and rambunctious but wonderfully lyrical performance of the G minor Quartet's Rondo alla Zingarese. Recorded in close but detailed digital sound, this disc should be heard by anyone interested in the repertoire or in the state of Brahms' chamber music in the early twenty first century.