My, weren't
Alfred Brendel and the Cleveland Quartet in an exuberant mood when they recorded Schubert's Trout Quartet in 1978?
They certainly were: just look at their smiling faces on the cover. Those are the smiles of players who have just enjoyed each others' company as much it's possible to do through music. And it surely sounds that way in their performance. With double bassist James van Denmark,
Brendel and the Cleveland play with an affection that passes through ardor and into passion. When this performance was first released, the Austrian pianist
Alfred Brendel already had an established international reputation as a virtuoso specializing in Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert and his playing here is full to the brim of beauty and brilliance. When the performance was first released, the American Cleveland Quartet were unknown outside of their county but their playing here is wonderfully energetic and enthusiastic. Together, van Denmark,
Brendel, and the Cleveland's performance is sometimes coy, sometimes playful, and sometimes flat-out flirtatious, but it's also always alert, intense, and excited. Anyone who loves the Trout -- and anyone who already knows the Trout loves the Trout -- will thoroughly enjoy this disc. Anyone who doesn't already know the Trout couldn't do better than to make its acquaintance through this disc -- even though the total time is a mere 38:14, fine for an LP but short measure for a CD. Philips' late stereo sound is crisp, lush, and deep.