In view of the remarks I'm about to make, it's worth pointing out that the Berlin Philharmonia Ensemble, one of several groups seeded from the Berlin Philharmonic, have probably changed their personnel, perhaps even their character, considerably since 1988 when this record was made. Their performance starts with a basking, mellow Adagio, leading into an only reluctantly spirited Allegro. No matter how much I twiddled my graphic equalizers, I just couldn't locate the biting edge. This has as much to do with the balance (wind-heavy) and the acoustic (stiflingly warm) as it has to do with the bland articulation and phrasing in slick playing which seems to be born of the players' ever-ready virtuosity.
A soft focus clarinet solo, with close-clinging violins, turns the Adagio into a gliding waltz, the third movement bounces along without a great deal of effort, and the variations of the fourth are singularly unvaried. And so on. With a catalogue full of fine recordings including the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble and, most recently, the Vienna Octet, the Music Group of London and—still outstandingly—the finely detailed, cultivated 1991 period performance of Hausmusik, this really does seem one Octet too many.'