Brahms-Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op.34

Rating:
Summary: Science and Art
Review: A tour de force of technology and artisic care.
Recommended as a demo disc for DVD-A in 24/96k 5.1
You could spend a day taking in the full offer here. Tri(3) this for size...audio and video and ROM options.
The convincingly youthful andante movement is great, most performances get too serious here (Brahms was 29 when he wrote Op. 34). This is a testament to the practice done by the group.
In an age where too much classical performance work has to fit into coffee advert schedules and movie sound stage-pay the bills dross, it is nice to see someone take on a major piece like this for the sake of showing what DVD-A will bring to the world of music.
Clara Schumann said this Quintet was the greatest since Schbert's great C major string quintet.
To me, this one recording was enough of an impact to say that it puts AIX (a new label from a Mr Mark Waldrep) on the map with ECM, DMP, Naxos and Wyndham Hill.

Rating:
Summary: Great DVD if you don't mind the angles
Review: This is a state of the art presentation for a music DVD. Audio and video quality are first rate. The performances are excellent. The only problem I had with it was the camera angles. You are given a choice between listening while 1) looking at a display of the name of the piece 2) watching the pianist 3) watching a Brady Bunch type layout of the string quartet. I found this totally annoying. I would have much preferred to watch from one or two angles in a concert type setting as opposed to what this DVD offers ... more of a video studio setting with 5 cameras on the musicians and no audience. The musicians aren't dressed formally and you constantly spot someone's arm or instrument darting in and out of the other musicians' frames. This came across as amateurish to me. If you're only interested in listening to a great presentation of this body of work then you'll probably enjoy the DVD. If you want to watch a DVD that makes you feel you're actually at the concert as I did you'll probably be somewhat disappointed.