Album: Simon Rattle, Berliner Philharmoniker, Schoenberg (EMI Classics)

Schoenberg first orchestrated Brahms' Piano Quartet No 1 because he felt that the pianist had a tendency to drown out the small string section.

It's now so popular, it may be better known in its orchestrated incarnation than its original form. This, Rattle's second recording of it, following his 1985 reading with the City of Birmingham Symphony, is full of dash and gusto, especially during the concluding Rondo alla Zingarese. Elsewhere, the "Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene" offers a peek at the complex musical dramaturgy furnished by dissonant developments of the composer's later career.

DOWNLOAD THIS: Piano Quartet No 1; Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene