Chiara Soave and Cecilia Baccolo’s Schubert interpretations have always been welcomed enthusiastically by critics and audiences. In 2010, the Duo was invited to perform a programme entirely dedicated to the great Austrian composer at the Concertgebouw Hall in Amsterdam, the only Italian piano duo to be featured in that renowned hall.

Franz Schubert composed the works on this release at the peak of his career, just before his untimely death at age 31. These works display both his rapture of music making, and his melancholy farewell. These works are presented on a two-disc set, performed by Rachmaninov Trio Moscow. Rachmaninov Trio Moscow is Mikhail Tsinman, Natalia Savinova, and Victor Yampolsky. The group’s interpretation of Russian favorites has already been well received, and they meet the challenge of Schubert’s virtuosity with ease.

Successful string quartet performance is all about communication, in the purest sense of the word: constant giving and exchanging, a communion among the players based on an intimate relationship bound by deep understanding, of the music and of each other. It’s the essence of what is meant by ensemble. When you have that, you can play anything together and make it vital, and most of all, true to the composer’s intent.

As my colleague David Hurwitz said in an earlier review, Brahms’ quartets are “respected more than they are loved”, and can sound “overworked” and “texturally monotonous”. It’s true that you can play unlawfully fast and loose with these quartets and pretty much get away with it, given enough rhythmic finesse and blurring of textures, and these are among the many reasons that listeners, including me, usually aren’t that much in love with these dense, phenomenally busy, complicated pieces. But when you hear them played with the unusual clarity, scintillating detail, and dynamic, exacting, turn-on-a-dime expressive statements uttered by an ensemble of literally one interpretive mind and unassailable technique, you have to rethink the reasons for your avoidance reflex when faced with a Brahms quartet close encounter.

When the New Zealand Quartet made this recording its members had been working and playing together for 20 years, a rarity in the music world, and a situation that pays huge dividends in performance. There are few relationships anywhere in which the members spend more time together, pouring heart and soul into an intensely charged, creative collaboration, its success built both on individual artistic drive and vision, and contingent on compromising, blending, and capitalizing on the strengths of those impulses and passions. Any group that can manage this, whether a married couple or a string quartet, is something of a miracle, and, especially if you’ve seen this group in concert, you know how special it is.

And there is no holding back in these performances: the NZSQ literally attacks and wrestles Brahms’ scores to the ground–a positive, friendly intervention, for the good of all concerned. These performances should not disappoint any listener, whether you hate Brahms or love his music, because they take you out of the realm of preconception and just deliver aggressive, uninhibited, and yes, passionate expressions of these scores, respectful of the composer while always working to realize the fullness of the music that Brahms struggled so long and hard to create.

My only regret here is that with a recording you don’t truly experience what this group is doing. Unless you actually see them in concert, you don’t appreciate the incredible group dynamic that’s happening during a performance, you don’t totally get the ensemble interaction that produces this result. They stand when they perform–cellist Rolf Gjelsten sits on a special raised platform–and there’s a physicality to the communication among the players that’s only comparable to a dance, a ballet. And if you can make a ballet out of Brahms’ string quartets, well, you’ve got something that’s worth listening to.

– ClassicsToday (David Vernier)

We clarinetists are profoundly grateful to Johannes Brahms for these four late works, composed near the end of his life. They stand as some of his most intimate and deeply felt music. We also owe thanks to the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, whose artistry moved Brahms so greatly that it inspired him to compose again. Mühlfeld's playing unlocked a new, quieter world for Brahms. Instead of writing large, dramatic works, Brahms started composing more personal and emotional music that highlighted the clarinet's warm and gentle sound. I was a young man when I first got to know these works, and in retrospect, I believe that my long engagement with these four compositions has shaped my approach to music-making more profoundly than any other repertoire, extending even to my interpretations of contemporary music. There are certain compositions that simply refuse to let go. Often, after performing them, one assumes it will be the final time, yet that is seldom the reality. This has certainly been my experience with the works of Brahms. His music is a constant source of inspiration. Every time I set the music on the stand, something opens up - a new interpretative idea or a deeper understanding of the music. And then that feeling comes up that every musician recognizes: I have to play this again! This is music that demands stillness and focus, and for me, it serves as an escape from the speed and noise of modern life. We are inviting the audience into a space where time stands still, where we are allowed to be sincere and reflective. It is both a privilege and a responsibility to keep these compositions present through performance and recording. After our recital in 2017 where we played all four works, the idea emerged to record them together. I hope you will find as much enjoyment in listening as we found in bringing this music to life. - Rúnar

Includes passacaglia(s) by George Frideric Handel. Soloists: Carlos Prieto, Edison Quintana, Juan Hermida, Juan Luis Prieto Reina.
Includes work(s) by various composers. Soloists: Carlos Prieto, Edison Quintana, Juan Hermida, Juan Luis Prieto Reina.

The spotlight is on Argentinean native Tomas Cotik in this program of works for solo violin by Telemann, Bach, Schubert and fellow countryman Astor Piazzolla. Mr. Cotik, whose studies began in Argentina, continued his educational pursuits in Germany, Canada and finally the US where he earned his Doctorate at the University of Miami. Alongside his recording and teaching obligations, Mr. Cotik and frequent duo partner pianist Tao Lin received critical acclaim for their Schubert: Complete Works for Violin and Piano, V.1 release, including a Recording of the Year nomination from MusicWeb Int'l.

This album features two towering masterpieces of the romantic piano music literature, Brahms’ Paganini Variations, op. 35 and Schumann’s Études Symphoniques, op. 13. Now based in the US, Ukrainian pianist Sophia Agranovich, a Steinway Artist and Juilliard graduate, is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso, recording artist and educator, performing as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. “Agranovich possesses not only technique, but superior musicianship…” (American Record Guide) “…mind-bending technical prowess and heart-melting emotional expressivity…” (Fanfare)