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JANSMUSIC RECOMMENDED RECORDING

Hausmusik London: Brahms, The Sextets
Signum SIGCD013

Sextet No.1 in Bb major, Op.18; No.2 in G major, Op.36

Probably what struck me first about this recording was the amount of energy that the group put into it. Right from the first phrase you feel like you've got onto a train that won't stop.  I'm not talking about tempo, just sheer passion and momentum.  

I have to say that I've never been much into Brahms (surely not, I hear you cry, shocked).  But I went to hear Hausmusik play these sextets live at the Spitalfields Festival in 2001, and I was riveted from the first note, meaning that when I got home I dug out this recording and listened to it with "fresh ears".

Hausmusik were the first group to play this kind of repertoire on period instruments. There are millions of different tone colours in this recording, with some fabulous middle register and bass sounds, and the brief pizzicato phrases in the first movement of the Bb major, make me go goosepimply.  These works give all the individuals a chance to shine, which they do, with some lovely solo lines, but then there are these wonderful sweeping passage that collect everyone up along the way, like a sudden gust of wind in a leafy street, and the sound comes at you in great waves. And in the really passionate passages you can feel the energy running from the bow to the strings, and I end up wondering how long their strings last with that much punishing treatment. Even if you know these works, buy this recording. It takes you on to new levels.