Quatuor Gabriel MAJ-505
Listen to track #1: "Allegro Molto Moderato”, from Faure Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, op. 15 MP3
Listen to track #8: "Anime”, from Chausson Piano Quartet in A major, op. 30 MP3
* this is a 5.6 MHz recording
Founded in Paris in 1988 by four students of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, Quatuor Gabriel (Gabriel Quartet) focuses mostly on piano quartet music composed by French composers. This album, featuring piano quartets by Ernest Chausson and Gabriel Faure, was recorded live while the Quartet was on tour in Japan in 2007. Pianist Yoko Kaneko, who plays a central role in the quartet`s activities, commissioned me to record the Tokyo concert, but without the intention of releasing the results on CD. However, as the performance was of such high artistic quality and the recording sonically quite acceptable, I convinced Yoko to agree to release the recording on the MA Japan label which I established to feature Japanese artists.
As the recording was live and I wanted to position the microphones relatively low, but as inconspicuously as possible, I decided to use my original pair of Bruel and Kjaer 4006 microphones as opposed to the much larger line level MA Custom mikes (please see the MAonSA sampler) I normally use now. As I wanted to use my 12 meter pair of Crystal Cable Ultra XLR cables, I had to convince the hall staff to allow me to stretch them from the mike suspension apparatus over the back of the stage and bring them down to the awaiting Korg MR-1000 portable DSD recorder. Getting them to allow me to do this was somewhat of a feat, but I believe the positive results are sonically evident in the recording which sounds very little like your “normal” live classical concert recording in which 100 to 200 meter cable lengths are common.
The musicians on this recording are as follows:
Violin: Francois Sochard Viola: Marc Desmons Violincello: Renaud Guieu Piano: Yoko Kaneko
