Before issuing this recording, the
Artemis Quartett had already made clean, tight, and driven performances of several
Beethoven quartets and a Verklärte Nacht that could seduce even the most chaste listener, and
Leif Ove Andsnes was already established as one of the finest living pianists. But something about the combination of the two here doesn't work. Naturally, the
Artemis and
Andsnes play with a cogent ensemble and unified interpretation, but their interpretations are surprisingly cool in the fast movements. The fugue that concludes
Schumann's quintet and the Scherzo in the center of
Brahms' work are more like well-balanced machines than aesthetic dramas, and the slow movements come off as cold. Certainly these are very listenable performances, but they may not warrant repeated listenings. Recorded in Teldex Studios in Berlin, the sound here is bright and crisp, if a bit lacking in depth.