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| Concerts | Recordings |
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| Recordings |
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| Mozart: String Quartet in A major K.464, String Quintet in D major K.593, With Hsin-Yun Huang, viola - AEON AECD 0747 |
| ***** "The Brentanos draw rapt attention to two relatively unplayed masterpieces, particularly the quintet with its rich viola at the heart." |
| Classic FM Magazine – August 2007 |
| "These players communicate a wealth of detail through their perceptive structural observation, deftly controlled ensemble, sensitive dynamic nuancing and fastidious balancing and blending of parts. They display grace, poise and commendable flexibility in conveying the melodic simplicity and regular, symmetrical phrasing of the opening Allegro of Mozart’s A major Quartet. Their crisp precision also highlights this movement’s contrapuntal detail, especially in its development, as well as thee finale’s striking variety of polyphony. Charmingly elegant in the minuet, they revel in the richer textures of the trio and characterize the Andante’s variations with deftness and spontaneity; they excel particularly in the third variation’s dialogue between upper and lower pairs of instruments, the minore fourth variation, and the imitative fifth variation.
Violist Hsin-Yun Huang joins the Brentano in an absorbing account of Mozart’s Quintet K593, featuring expressive, unforced tone combined with spontaneity and lack of mannerism. These players’ enjoyment of their music making is clearly evident, whether they are questioning in the opening Larghetto, incisive in the march-like first theme or in the same theme’s vigorous canonic treatment in the development. Violinists Mark Steinberg and Serena Canin also bring the minuet to an appropriate climax in canon, while the ensemble’s account of the courtly trio provides due contrasts; and these players ensure that the effervescent finale’s harmonic boldness and wealth of contrapuntal ingenuity is appreciated in full. Their performance of the work’s kernel, the pensive Adagio, is sensitively conveyed with shapely phrasing and faithfully released dynamic contrasts. The recording combines immediacy with an attractive ambient warmth." |
| The Strad - August 2007 |
| "Cette interprétation est de celles qui demandent une écoute attentive. Intègres et sobres, les Brentano ne cherchent jamais à forcer le texte. C’est surtout par une articulation très cohérente, un goût musical très sûr et un dosage soigné des nuances et des équilibres polyphoniques qu’ils parviennent à faire ressortir la perfection classique de ces deux œuvres exigeantes pour les interprètes comme pour les auditeurs. Dans le vaste Andante du Quatuor KV 464, on admirera la maîtrise tranquille avec laquelle les interprètes progressent dans le développement du thème et de ses variations. On appréciera la diversité des vibratos auxquels ils recourent – depuis son absence (préservant néanmoins une intonation irréprochable) dans les passages dont ils veulent éclairer la pureté contrapuntique, jusqu’à sa présence soutenue pour renforcer certains forte ou des accents véhéments. Avec l’échappée badine du violoncelle reprise par l’alto puis par le premier violon, la fin de cet Andante montre le degré de transparence polyphonique qu’ils atteignent. Ce soin attaché à la dynamique comme élément déterminant de la lisibilité est certainement un des points forts de cette lecture admirablement travaillée et parfaitement fluide néanmoins.
Par ailleurs, comment ne pas être saisi par la densité du tissu contrapuntique qu’ils tissent dans le premier mouvement du Quintette KV 593, ou par la plénitude lyrique qu’ils font jaillir de son poignant Adagio. Une interprétation en tout point admirable, harmonieuse et raffinée, à l’image de ces deux chefs-d’œuvre de perfection classique." |
| Diapason – July-August 2007 |
| "This interpretation is one of those which requires an attentive ear. Sincere and temperate, the Brentanos never try to force the reading of the score. It is more with a particularly coherent articulation, an assured musical taste and a measured sense of nuances and polyphonic balance that they are able to underline the classical perfection of these two pieces, demanding for both the performers and the listeners. In the vast Andante from the Quartet KV 464, one can admire the tranquil mastery with which the performers unravel the development of the theme and its variations. One can also appreciate the diversity of the vibratos which they use – from its absence (while nevertheless preserving the perfect pitch) in the sections which they want to highlight the purity of the contrapuntal line, to it is sustained presence to emphasise forte moments or violent accents. With the playful escape of the cello recurring on the viola then on the first violin, the end of the Andante displays the extent of polyphonic clarity they achieve. The particular sensitivity to the dynamics as a determining element of intelligibility is certainly one of the strong points in this admirably wrought and wonderfully fluid interpretation.
Furthermore, it is difficult not to be gripped by the density of the contrapuntal fabric which they weave in the first movement of the Quintet KV 593, and by the lyrical plenitude which they bring out of the poignant Adagio. A thoroughly marvellous interpretation, harmonious and refined, matching these two masterpieces of classical perfection." |
| Diapason – July-August 2007 |
| "The outer blurb and booklet notes make a big thing of the coupling on this disc: Pairing Mozarts String Quartet K.464 and String Quintet K.593 amounts almost to a militant gesture: defending two relatively little-known works ... Whatever the thinking behind presenting this programme, it certainly works well. Both of these works fall into the sunny, more relaxed category of Mozarts output… The balance of apparently simple melodic shapes and the intellectual demands of a highly developed polyphony make this work as easy or as complex as a game of chess, depending on how you approach it. Mozart himself, in his dedication to Haydn, freely admitted that these sons cost him the greatest fatigue, the most labour and with the compact intensity of development from a minimum of means in the finale I can well believe it.
The Brentano Quartet performs with a great deal of subtle gradation of colour and nuance. Theirs is a relatively romantic view both of these works, employing all of the expressive resources of modern string quartet technique while remaining sensitive to Mozarts style and idiom… Arguably, there could be more expression drawn from some parts of the music, but there is a fine line to be drawn between intense involvement and mannered over-reverence, and I sense that The Brentanos know exactly where those boundaries lie. The fuller ensemble of the String Quintet K.593 provides quite a surprising contrast with the quartet, and the balance of the instruments shifts a little, the cello being pushed more to one side. The playing is excellent however, not inhumanly perfect in all of those runs, but utterly convincing exciting and graceful, transparent and sensitive, moving and eloquent. Its one of those recordings that, when you play it, you find yourself thinking, I wouldnt mind if they played this at my funeral… With a gorgeous bloom of acoustic resonance from the venue and plenty of air around the musicians, this beautifully engineered package is one with which I shall be able to live happily for a long time." |
| Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International - June 2007 |