Robert Schumann once stated that the chamber music works of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) were more like symphonies in disguise. And his Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34 is certainly a case in point. Although written when Brahms was still a young man in his thirties, it is more indicative and symptomatic of a man downtrodden by the ill effects of time. For example, it opens with a poignant unison melody redolent of grief and regret that is almost immediately interrupted by agitation and anger, as if abruptly trying to cast out negative emotions. And this is where the members of The Opus 76 Quartet and Norwegian pianist Julie Coucheron really shine. They very well expose the many expressive dichotomies omnipresent within this work.

For a composer who strongly believed that music had wandered too far from its "absolute" state set down by Beethoven, the first movement of his Piano Quintet is rife with passages that alternate from recapitulations of the opening motif which seem to evoke distant memories, to passionate emotive outbursts. And this is where the four string players really come into their own with fiery and spirited, almost electric tension. Keith Stanfield (violin), Zsolt Eder (violin), Ashley Stanfield (viola) and Daniel Ketter (cello), all seem to get caught up in the music's turmoil and well project the composer's intent. In the beautifully flowing Andante that follows, it's the combined sounds of the viola and cello that create some highly pleasant, ear-catching textures and sonorities. The piano very much sets the tone in the following Scherzo with plenty of forward momentum and powerful accents, but Julie Coucheron never overwhelms the stage. Her dynamic control is always at the service of the ensemble and bolsters rather than stifles it. The high level of activity during the final minutes of the last movement, like an unbridled horse racing forward, is quite impressive in this performance.

The audio quality is generally very good except that, and this is only a minor quibble, and may have to do with the fact that the musicians had to follow pandemic enforced distancing rules during the recording session, but the end result is a wider, distanced soundstage compared to the usual "tight" sound you get from chamber music recordings. Since this is an in-house production, the recording is only available as a digital download or, if you prefer, can be obtained as a CD-Single (37 minutes) directly from the Opus 76 Quartet website.