Brahms/Schoenberg: Piano Quartet No 1; Schoenberg: Accompaniment to a Film Scene; Chamber Symphony No 1

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Simon Rattle EMI Classics457 8152 ****

Schoenberg gave three reasons for orchestrating Brahms's Piano Quartet in G minor: "1) I like this piece. 2) It is seldom played. 3) It is always played badly, because the better the pianist the louder he plays and you hear nothing from the strings." The 1930 Accompaniment to a Film Scenewas an exercise in idealism – the film was imaginary, and the music conceived in an intensely expressionist style, strong enough to overpower most real-life films. The orchestral version of the early Chamber Symphony No 1 was intended to correct the string-shy scoring of the original. Rattle and his Berlin players give luxuriantly vibrant accounts of all three works, the music-making marred only by some intrusive rubato in Schoenberg's rewardingly affectionate reworking of Brahms. See url.ie/57cs