The term "chamber music" broadly implies music on an intimate scale performed by a limited number of musicians. The heart of civilized 18th-century European musical culture is best represented by that most perfect of forms the string quartet, developed by Haydn and Mozart into models of elegance and expressive balance. Embracing instruments new for his time, Mozart’s chamber music also resulted in sublime masterpieces such as the Clarinet Quintet, but it was Beethoven who expanded the length and complexity of the string quartet to its limits. Beethoven left an indelible mark of progress and change on every genre of music, and both the ‘Archduke’ Trio and ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata are milestones in chamber music history.

Beethoven’s romantic independence of spirit and powerfully personal musical language was carried forward by Schubert and Mendelssohn, both of whom introduced emotion-enhancing literary sentiments into their expressive range. The symphonic proportions of Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet places it at the pinnacle of the classical line through Mozart and Beethoven, but romantic ideals in music were already being applied to the cause of national identity. Antonín Dvorák’s ‘Dumky’ Trio takes its name from a ballad of lament, integrating national dance elements to create a distinctive Czech and Bohemian flavor. The move away from German stylistic examples by the Russian ‘mighty handful’ can be heard in Borodin’s soulful String Quartet No 2. Innovation in chamber music can be found everywhere, but there are few such works as striking as César Franck’s Violin Sonata, a flawless synthesis of classical proportion and the spirit of romanticism in its cyclic development of a single theme.

This collection of great chamber music brings together nine giants of music in works which reveal their most immediate and individual expressive worlds: proof if ever any was needed that less can be much, much more.

Borodin: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2

Though Peter Il'yich Tchaikovsky was a highly prolific and successful composer, he offered only six chamber works for publication. This brief catalogue included three complete string quartets and four single movements.

For a time, Tchaikovsky's string quartets seemed unjustifiably consigned to the far corners of the repertory. While they may not be exemplars of Beethovenian classicism or cogency, their own particular qualities of melodic profligacy, rhythmic originality, and dramatic argument make a strong case for their wider exposure. If ensembles can regularly program Debussy and Ravel quartets, there's no reason why they shouldn't do Tchaikovsky. The New Haydn Quartet clearly has no doubts about the quality of the music, approaching it with all the intelligence, musicianship, and enthusiasm one would bring to quartets by Beethoven, Bartók or Dvorák. Quartet No. 1's first movement second subject receives a loving caress at a slightly slowed tempo, as does the wistful violin solo in the beautiful Andante Cantabile movement. One of Tchaikovsky's most telling characteristics is his unique ability to build up sequences of almost unbearable tension, as he does in Quartet No. 2's first movement with its spiraling chromatic melodic ladder. The New Haydn players shirk not a bit from this purple passage, infusing it with a steely edge and power more more typical of works such as Shostakovich's quartets. They are equally committed in the anguished slow movement, here conjuring up the world-weary spirit of Eugene Onegin, while they toss aside their tear-filled hankies and kick into high gear for the dancing finales of both works. The Borodin Quartet on EMI may be more idiomatic and powerful in some respects, but their harsh Melodiya recording is no match for Naxos's beautifully lush sound. This release is self-recommending, and a vital addition to the Tchaikovsky discography. --Victor Carr, ClassicsToday.com