Brahms String [Quartet] Quartets—No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51 No. 1; No. 3 in B flat, Op. 67. Borodin Quartet (Mikhail Kopelman, Andrei Abramenkov, vns; Dimitri Shebalin, va; Valentin Berlinsky, vc).

Teldec (Full price) (CD) 4509-90889-2 (69 minutes: DDD).

Not until he was 40 did the self-critical Brahms feel he'd produced a string quartet worthy of publication. It's essentially the mature, middle-aged composer that the Borodin Quartet evoke in their full-bodied, spacious and firmly-contoured performance of the C minor Quartet. Comparing it with the recent recording from the Alban Berg Quartet, the first and most obvious difference is the Borodin's more deliberate tempo for the powerful flanking movements in the home key. They prefer breadth to their rivals' urgency. In the Romanze, richly romantic from both teams, the Borodin favour a riper sound-world, warmly fortified by their viola and cello, as against the Berg's more translucent sonority, with its ethereal pianissimo often evoking the rapt magic of moonlight. In the main theme of the Allegretto I prefer the Borodin's simpler flow: here I thought the Berg too finicky in phrasing even though they are subtler in textural balance. For the trio section the Borodin find a healthy Landler-like swing in contrast to the Berg's swifter and more fanciful response to its ear-catching scoring.

Differences in the B flat Quartet are less marked: both readings are vividly characterful. But again—and perhaps most of all in the finale—my overriding impression was of more traditionally Germanic romanticism from the Russians, whereas from the Viennese team we meet a more minutely impressionable as well as a more highly-strung composer.

The Teldec recording, made in this company's Berlin studio, is as full, warm and open as the playing. I hope the Russians will soon give us the A minor Quartet (included by the Berg in their two-disc EMI issue) to complete their set. But whichever team you choose, I'm sure you will not be disappointed.

JOC