Noble Tenderness. “Ideal for expressing feelings and ideas of the most poetic kind” (in the opinion of Hector Berlioz), the clarinet takes center stage in this programme of chamber works ranging from Beethoven’s youthful Trio in B-flat major op. 11 via Weber’s sparkling Grand duo concertant op. 48 to Brahms’s autumnal Trio in A minor op. 114. “From the first note to the last, this was an explosively brilliant and beautifully controlled performance with artistic ensemble precision such as we rarely hear.” Peninsula Reviews, concert review of op. 48)

String Quartets No. 1 & 2

Trio for Cello, Clarinet and Piano

Fantasia for Cello and Piano

"In its valedictory release, the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet presents a pair of well-loved chamber works offering a glimpse into the private world of two Czech composers. Antonin Dvorák and Bedrich Smetana—although they were sometimes regarded as musical opposites in their homeland—together came to represent the quintessential sound of 19th-century Czech music."

Harmonia Mundi, April, 2013

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Michael Tumelty - Herald Scotsman

April 21, 2013

"When I reviewed the Tokyo String Quartet's CD of Brahms Quintets with guest musicians Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu last November, I knew it was the group's penultimate recording. Violinist Kikuei Ikeda and violist Kazuhide Isomura had decided to retire and the remaining duo, violinist Martin Beaver and cellist Clive Greensmith, after months of agonising, decided not to replace the irreplaceable in an ensemble with a unique sound and a 45-year career at the top of the business, but call it a day and gracefully disband. One final CD was promised, and here it comes, due out a week tomorrow. It presents two of the greatest masterpieces from the Czech repertoire in Dvorak's American String Quartet and Smetana's First String Quartet, From My Life. They are quintessential Tokyo recordings, steeped in wisdom, flawless clarity of ensemble, unforced and reaching to the heart of the music. There will be no more from these magicians, but the legacy of recordings will endure."

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Paul Morley - Sinfini Music

May 13, 2013

Dvorak's American Quartet and Smetana's From My Life: "Two magnificent four-part, four-way miniaturisations of mental and physical immensity, executed with single-minded brilliance.

...The American’s volatile combination of pioneering optimism and world-weary acceptance, jaunty melody and haunted history, an intimate relation his New World Symphony, comes from the verge of the American 20th century when classical music was perversely seen as a solution to the troublesome construction of a distinct American musical voice. It’s a perfect way for the Tokyo Quartet to end, with their version of an unlikely, exploratory beginning.

And then, their enlightened, plangent version of a defiant ending: Smetana’s impassioned autobiographical compression of a life that was breaking down reflects their own story, their experienced commitment to how a great, liquid string quartet transmitted with vim and sensitivity can symbolise a whole existence, the introspection, the exuberance, the pleasure, the pain, the panic, the peace of mind, and the poignant fading into silence that inevitably follows all the dazzling, joyous, forward-looking life and energy."

The disc is broadly “historically inspired” with pianist Boris Berman using an 1885 Bechstein baby grand, further noting that apparently Brahms preferred smaller grands and had an aversion to Viennese concert grands. Greensmith himself plays on his accustomed Strad but with four gut strings – allowing him to blend better with the piano and not, he avers, for slavish reasons. One result has been an avoidance of big sound generic performance and the establishment of different principles – plangent tone allied to long bow. Another has been a good balance between the two instruments, something that is exceptionally difficult to get right normally.

The proof is in the dessert. Here are performances of interior expressive eloquence. The E minor is spun with generous flexibility quite the opposite of the Russian School’s high wire act of projection and articulation. There’s no digging into the string. Instead utilising the gut strings sensitively Greensmith draws a wide range of tone colours. Occasionally a slightly nasal tone emerges in the more strenuous passagework but the balance between the two instruments remains excellent. Greensmith and Berman catch the dance rhythms of Menuetto, the give and take between them finely judged. The rhythmic emphases are subtly deployed and the finale’s vibrant and exciting. The cello is recorded quite forwardly and Berman plays with rewarding control – his treble glinting dextrously.

Disc: 1
1. String Quartet No. 21 in D major ('Prussian 1'), K. 575: Allegretto
2. String Quartet No. 21 in D major ('Prussian 1'), K. 575: Andante
3. String Quartet No. 21 in D major ('Prussian 1'), K. 575: Menuetto: Allegretto
4. String Quartet No. 21 in D major ('Prussian 1'), K. 575: Allegretto
5. String Quartet No. 22 in B flat major ('Prussian 2'), K. 589: Allegro
6. String Quartet No. 22 in B flat major ('Prussian 2'), K. 589: Larghetto
7. String Quartet No. 22 in B flat major ('Prussian 2'), K. 589: Menuetto: Moderato
8. String Quartet No. 22 in B flat major ('Prussian 2'), K. 589: Allegro assai
9. String Quartet No. 23 in F major ('Prussian 3'), K. 590: Allegro moderato
10. String Quartet No. 23 in F major ('Prussian 3'), K. 590: Andante
11. String Quartet No. 23 in F major ('Prussian 3'), K. 590: Menuetto: Allegretto
12. String Quartet No. 23 in F major ('Prussian 3'), K. 590: Allegro

Disc: 1
1. Overture to Guillaume Tell (William Tell): Part 1.
2. Sonata for viola da gamba & keyboard No. 1 in G major, BWV 1027: Adagio
3. Jocelyn, opera: Berceuse
4. Caprice and Elegy, for cello & chamber orchestra, RT vii/8: Elegy
5. Polonaise de Concert for cello & piano, Op 14
6. An den FrÃ1/4hling (To Spring), lyric piece for piano, Op. 43/6
7. Hungarian Fantasy, for cello & piano
8. Samson et Dalila, opera in 3 acts, Op. 47: Softly Wakes my Heart
9. The Sleeping Beauty, ballet, Op. 66: Act 2. Vision Scene
10. Élégie: O doux printemps d'autrefois, for voice & piano (from 'Mélodies, Vol.1')
11. Sonata for cello & piano in G minor Op. 60: Vivace flessibile
12. Élégie for cello & piano or orchestra in C minor, Op. 24
13. Sonata for cello & piano No. 2 in G minor, Op. 117: Andante
14. Prélude à l'aprÃ..s-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun), for orchestra, L. 86
15. Soliloquy for cello & orchestra, Op. 57

Disc: 2
1. I Masnadieri, opera: Overture (Excerpt)
2. Ein Morgen, ein Mittag, ein Abend in Wien (Morning Noon and Night in Vienna), overture from the incidental music: Excerpt
3. Sonata for arpeggione & piano in A minor ('Arpeggione Sonata'), D. 821: Allegretto
4. Suite for solo cello No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008: Allemande
5. Suite for solo cello No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008: Courante
6. Strophes sur le nom de Sacher (3), for cello: Strophe No. 3
7. Pohádka (Fairy Tale), for cello & piano ('The Story of Tsar Berendyey'), JW 7/5: III
8. Figaro (concert paraphrase of 'Largo al factotum' from Rossini's 'Barber of Seville'), for cello & piano
9. Sonata for solo cello, Op. 8: Allegro molto vivace
10. Albumblätter (Album Leaves), for cello & piano, Op. 51: No. 5
11. Albumblätter (Album Leaves), for cello & piano, Op. 51: No. 12
12. Cello Concerto: Allegro appassionato
13. AprÃ..s un rêve ('Dans un sommeil'), song for voice & piano, Op. 7/1
14. Passacaglia and Sarabande with Variations for violin & viola in G major (after Handel): Theme and Variations (after Handel)
15. Fantasia on British Sea Songs, for orchestra: Tom Bowling
16. Invocation, for cello & orchestra, Op.19/2, H. 75

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