The Belcea's C minor quartet is trumped by its performance of the Op. 111 Quintet, where the opening movement is executed with a welcome sense of easeful power and direction. The middle movements receive a balanced sonority and relaxed fluidity that suits the music wonderfully, especially since the players bring more pointed phrasing to the music than in the Quartet. The final movement has more than a few traces of the "Gypsy" style that Brahms often adopted for extroverted last movements, here done with plenty of finesse. The second viola is played by Thomas Kakuska of the Alban Berg Quartet, and we may surmise that his experienced presence may account for the wider dynamic range than we hear in the Quartet. EMI's sound is adequate--but for presence, solid bass, and transparency, Telarc's Cleveland Quartet recording of the Op. 51 is not matched here. The recording of the Quintet is the better engineered of the works on this disc; the cello is too recessed in the Quartet. [4/29/2004]