Best classical chamber music albums

[Brian Hall]

I love classical music as well as metal.

Today I've been listening to classical "chamber music". Currently listening to:

I am a big fan of Paganini. Roon is playing that on Tidal currently. I'm interested in discovering lesser known classical artists who created similar music.

Do you have any recommendations along this line? Not full orchestras, but "chamber music" like that?

 

[Pretorious]

This is such a huge area of music even disregarding the well known composers, so you have a lot of delightful works to experience! I will forego the usual suspects as you request. Try these:

• Louis Spohr’s 1st piano trio in E minor.
• Ferdinand Ries’s cello sonata in G minor, opus 125.
• The piano quintet of Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia.
• Myakovsky’s cello sonata in A minor, opus 81.
• Coleridge-Taylor’s clarinet quintet.
• Taneyev’s piano quintet.
• Cherubini’s 1st string quartet in E flat major.
• Dussek’s F minor piano quintet, opus 41.

Absolutely the one I recommend the most though is Franz Limmer’s piano quintet. It’s an astounding work, a neglected masterpiece, in my opinion. Just beautiful throughout the entirety and easily on par with the masterworks of the genre.

You can’t go wrong with any of these works, and they should give you a keen ear to what you like best. And there’s plenty more where that came from. You can find all of the works I recommended in readily available recordings. If you want more suggestions after giving these a listen don’t hesitate to ask.

 

[Waxx]

This is by far my favorite:

Pergolesi: Stabat Mater/Florilegium SACD

Vivaldi also made a work based on that same 10th century poem that is more known, but this one is a lot better if you ask me, especially in this execution.

 

[Robin L]

I've been listening to these two boxes of chamber music recently. The Busch Quartet/Adolph Busch Warner Brothers box was on sale in a like new box over at Ebay for less than $20. In addition to their very highly regarded set of Beethoven Late Quartets there's works by Schubert, Brahms and others, in excellent transfers of (mostly) 1930s recordings. Their performance of Schubert's 15th quartet, in G major, D887, is one of my favorite performances of any string quartet. There's also Violin sonatas and other works with the young Rudolf Serkin. 16 CDs in this set:

The Takacs Quartet set of the complete Beethoven string quartets is the consensus choice for those works, in first rate digital sound. This set has a DVD with several videos of performances by the group and a Pure Audio Blu Ray disc with the entire audio contents of the Beethoven string quartets in 24 bit, 48 khz sound. This set has greatly increased my appreciation of the early quartets and is excellent throughout. 7 CDs, 1 DVD, 1 Blu Ray audio disc:

 

[Rednaxela]

You may like this one:

 

[Robin L]

Found this today at Rainy Day Records for $1.98:

Gidon Kremer, Daniel Phillips, Kim Kashkashian and Yo Yo Ma perform this music at a noticeably slower tempo than the Busch Quartet but with just as much intensity. The 1987 CBS digital recording is quite good, just this side of edgy. A good, modern and very intense recording of Schubert's greatest string quartet.

Also worth noting:

Schubert's Quintet in C major as performed by the Cleveland Quartet with Yo Yo Ma, a 1984 digital recording, also on CBS. My favorite recording of this great composition. Strange to think that Schubert was only a little over thirty when he wrote this work, redolent of Beethoven's "Late Quartets". Of course Schubert, like Beethoven, was on his deathbed. Very heavy but very beautiful music.

 

[Vincent Kars]

For years the Chiaroscuro Quartet is my favorite string quartet, love their Haydn and Mozart interpretations.

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[Daverz]

The Suk Trio playing all the Dvorak Piano Trios (2 CDs):

 

[Elkerton]

From some 400 chamber music CDs (not to mention almost as many LPs and cassettes), I’ve chosen some of the hits. I would also include some already mentioned, like either the Busch’s or Takacs’ Beethoven, or the Schubert String Quintet. Most are rather more serious than the Paganini, amongst the greatest music ever composed IMHO, but I understand your liking of the lightness of touch in the Paganini.

 

[amadeuswus]

For years the Chiaroscuro Quartet is my favorite string quartet, love their Haydn and Mozart interpretations.

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The Chiaroscuro has also started their Beethoven cycle. The Op. 18 quartets and Op. 74/130 are out. I hope BIS carries through with the rest!

 

[Robin L]

From some 400 chamber music CDs (not to mention almost as many LPs and cassettes), I’ve chosen some of the hits. I would also include some already mentioned, like either the Busch’s or Takacs’ Beethoven, or the Schubert String Quintet. Most are rather more serious than the Paganini, amongst the greatest music ever composed IMHO, but I understand your liking of the lightness of touch in the Paganini.
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I recently acquired that fine recording of the Handel Wind Sonatas.

 

[Koeitje]

Just a nice mix of some fine works.

 

[neilt]

I love classical music as well as metal.


I am a big fan of Paganini. Roon is playing that on Tidal currently. I'm interested in discovering lesser known classical artists who created similar music.

Do you have any recommendations along this line? Not full orchestras, but "chamber music" like that?

A lot of folks don't know all the Brahms chamber music. It's consistently good but you may not think that about quartets.

Vivaldi and Teleman wrote so many concertos different instrumental combos.

 

[Robin L]

A lot of folks don't know all the Brahms chamber music. It's consistently good but you may not think that about quartets.

Vivaldi and Teleman wrote so many concertos different instrumental combos.

I've got the Brilliant Classics box of the complete chamber music of Brahms, along with a good representation of his works in the Busch Quartet/Adolf Busch box. The string quintet op. 111 is a wonderous thing.

 

[Elkerton]

I have to agree about Brahms. I rarely play his symphonic stuff, but I have multiple versions of 23 out of 24 of his chamber works, and agree again, that his string quartets are hard to get into. OTOH, the piano quartets, the piano quintet, the string quintets, the cello and clarinet sonatas are wonderful and bear repeated listening, unless you are like some who don’t trust his emotive output. I apparently like to wallow

 

[Robin L]

I have to agree about Brahms. I rarely play his symphonic stuff, but I have multiple versions of 23 out of 24 of his chamber works, and agree again, that his string quartets are hard to get into. OTOH, the piano quartets, the piano quintet, the string quintets, the cello and clarinet sonatas are wonderful and bear repeated listening, unless you are like some who don’t trust his emotive output. I apparently like to wallow

I never had a problem getting into Brahms' string quartets. They can have a grim aspect, but so can a lot of other chamber works. I suspect that part of the reason why I came to like the works so much had to do with my initial exposure to the string quartets of Brahms, an early recording of the Cleveland quartet. The fact that they looked like hippies at the time didn't hurt at all:

I had a similar reaction to my first exposure to Peter Serkin:

I play Brahms' symphonic works a lot, highly recommend Bruno Walter's Columbia Symphony Orchestra recording of the symphonies 2 and 3:

 

[Brian Hall]

I never had a problem getting into Brahms' string quartets. They can have a grim aspect, but so can a lot of other chamber works. I suspect that part of the reason why I came to like the works so much had to do with my initial exposure to the string quartets of Brahms, an early recording of the Cleveland quartet. The fact that they looked like hippies at the time didn't hurt at all:

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I had a similar reaction to my first exposure to Peter Serkin:

View attachment 358254

I play Brahms' symphonic works a lot, highly recommend Bruno Walter's Columbia Symphony Orchestra recording of the symphonies 2 and 3:

View attachment 358255

Great recommendation on the Bruno Walter version. Listening to it now. Had never heard that version before.

 

[Robin L]

Great recommendation on the Bruno Walter version. Listening to it now. Had never heard that version before.

I've never heard a finer rendition of the "Poco Allegretto" movement of the Third Symphony of Brahms.

 

[Pretorious]

The Brahms string quartets are a bit different than the rest of his chamber works, but it has always surprised me how many people say how difficult they are to get into and enjoy. They are fairly passionate, dark, stormy works even when compared to his other output, but there are a lot of lovely, deep moments, too.

The slow movement of the opus 67 quartet is a great example of this, which is followed up by the agitato that has a beautiful viola part from the beginning. Could be a good place to start.

I'll add a few recordings to the recommendations. This one from Hyperion always sat well with me, even if the recording is a little odd and thin sounding at times. The Melos Quartet plays a good version and is well worth the time to listen to. Plus you get the Schumann quartets with it, which are also very underrated.

 

[Robin L]

The slow movement of the opus 67 quartet is a great example of this, which is followed up by the agitato that has a beautiful viola part from the beginning. Could be a good place to start.