Naxos's notes do not reveal the name of the players who form the Stuttgart Sextet, but they are a regular group, we are told, whose first recording—of the Schubert String Quintet in C major—was made in 1978 to ''high critical acclaim''. Neither that issue, nor any subsequent recording seems to have reached the UK. Their performance of the two Brahms sextets, which dates from 1989, are clothed in a vivid, sonorous studio recording which has just the right degree of reverberance. Technically they are a very accomplished ensemble and play in a highly confident, positive fashion, with impressive tonal sonority.
Their performance of the First Sextet has many virtues, and of particular note is the variety and character they find in the second movement variations. However, beside the Raphael Ensemble on Hyperion they tend to lack subtlety and insight: there is little of the heart-easing grace and affection, or beauty of phrase which makes the Hyperion issue so outstanding. The last movement is weakest of all in this respect, and so is most of the Second Sextet, where in the first movement, for example, there is a certain rhythmic monotony and loss of direction. Here and elsewhere throughout the performance there are good things, but really it would be a case of false economy to invest in the super-bargain-price Naxos issue rather than the full-price Hyperion.
The Vienna String Sextet's disc is their first solo release in the UK under a contract with EMI Classics Germany. They were formed in 1981 and are clearly a very fine ensemble. Their performance of the Second Serenade is at once placed at a great disadvantage, however, through the use of a slow tempo in the opening movement, which cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called Allegro non troppo. Here the music simply plods in a dispirited fashion, which is the greatest shame since the rest of the performance is quite excellent. The Scherzo is superbly articulated, and even better played than by the Raphael Ensemble; the third movement, with its subtle rhythmic quality which so many groups falter over, is beautifully managed and the last movement is brought off with much joy, sensitivity and flair.
It is in Verklarte Nacht, however, that this ensemble really show their paces. Though their playing is superlative technically and tonally, and always under control, they bring out the work's wild extremes and nightmarish quality very vividly. They at once look forward to later Schoenberg with their intense, highly charged style of playing. They also bring out the piece's romantic qualities through warm, generous phrasing and extreme delicacy where this is appropriate. In its quicksilver changes of mood, its flexibility and clarity this performance shows once and for all how unsuitable and inevitably heavy is the transcription for string orchestra. In both works the excellent, wide-ranging recording has a great deal of presence, and is set in an ideal medium-size chamber acoustic.'