Brian Reinhart has named the new Brahms & Schumann: Piano Quintets a MusicWeb International Recording of the Month!
“On first listen, I thought, ‘I really, really like this CD’. … Then I started tallying up all the Alexander Quartet albums I now desperately want to purchase, and pitying my poor wallet. All that is a long way of saying that this is an excellent CD. There’s no doubt about it. The Schumann is vibrant, lively, exuberantly cheerful, with a healthy fullness and muscle. Pianist Joyce Yang leads the charge in the exciting scherzo, especially. Brahms’ quintet is played to show the players’ versatility: aggressive and tender and coolly focused in turn, with impeccable judgment. The scherzo, again, simply catches fire. … This review is brief because its recommendation is simple. The recording, produced by Judith Sherman, is first-rate; the playing is uniformly first-rate; the artist group portrait is amusing; the need for follow-up albums is high. … there is always more room on the shelf for excellence.” —Brian Reinhart, MusicWeb International
Read the full rave review on MusicWeb International!