String Quartets (Nos. 1-3)

Johannes Brahms

String Quartet

Emerson Quartet

mid-2000s

Gil's top recommendation. The Emerson Quartet does an excellent job of 'selling' these sometimes-dense works. They are immaculately virtuosic, polished, with beautiful tones, and beautifully recorded.

Budapest Quartet

1963

Great interpreters of the German Romantics. They bring the drama, the emotion, and the interpretive insights. A great way to appreciate these works.

Léner Quartet

late 20s, early 30s Historic recording.

One of those really old recordings that sounds 'more from the horse's mouth.' You can hear the identification with the music and a stereotypical late romantic style that really helps the works.