8.572799
Johannes BRAHMS (1833–1897)
Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26
Gustav Mahler (1860–1911)
Piano Quartet in A minor
Eldar Nebolsin, Piano • Anton Barakhovsky, Violin
Alexander Zemtsov, Viola • Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Cello
“…playing and recording these Brahms quartets is the closest one can get to pure musical ecstasy.”
– Eldar Nebolsin
Listen to an excerpt from Brahm’s
Piano Quarter No. 2
After a period as a court composer at Detmold, Brahms returned to the city of his birth, Hamburg, in January 1860. Here, in relative tranquillity, he explored the then rare piano quartet repertoire. The Piano Quartet No. 2 received a very sympathetic hearing in Vienna, Clara Schumann even preferring it to its immediate predecessor, the Piano Quartet, Op. 25 [Naxos 8.572798]. Its lyricism is heightened by a romantically beautiful Adagio. Mahler’s vibrant Piano Quartet in A minor dates from 1876, the end of his first year at the Vienna Conservatory, where the only completed movement was first performed.
Eldar Nebolsin| Anton Barakhovsky| Alexander Zemtsov| Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt
   About Eldar Nebolsin
© Mikhail Vaneev / Waniewski
Eldar Nebolsin enjoys a busy international career as a soloist, recitalist and chamber music player, appearing with conductors, orchestras and colleagues of international distinction. In 2005 he was unanimously awarded the Sviatoslav Richter Prize in the First International Piano Competition in Moscow, where he was also honoured with the special award for The Best Classical Concerto Performance.

www.eldarnebolsin.com
   About Anton Barakhovsky
© Alexander Guriyanov
Anton Barakhovsky is First Concertmaster of the Bayerische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra. His chamber music partners include Leon Fleisher, Maurizio Pollini, Sabine Meyer, Kolja Blacher, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, and Wolfram Christ and Natalia Gutman.

www.naxos.com/person/Anton_Barakhovsky/278165.htm
   About Alexander Zemtsov
© Marije van den Berg
Violist Alexander Zemtsov was appointed Principal Viola of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He is viola soloist with numerous renowned orchestras in Europe, USA, Asia and Australia. Among others he regularly performs as soloist with conductors such as Alexander Vedernikov, Vladimir Jurowski and Neeme Järvi.

www.zemtsov.info/alexander-zemtsov
   About Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt
© Christian Steiner
Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt is a prize-winner of many international competitions such as the International Rostropovich Competition, Paris and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He is the Founder and Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra Metamorphosen Berlin alongside violinist Indira Koch.

www.wolfgangemanuelschmidt.com/en/
8.572798
“Barakhovsky, Zemtsov, Nebolsin, and Schmidt…perform these works with all the freshness and passion of a new love or a new discovery.” 
– Audio Video Club
of Atlanta
8.572452
“Gould Piano…play the quartet with the fullness of passion it deserves…Gould and Frith are charming in the pieces for violin and piano…this is strongly recommended.”
– Fanfare
8.572661
“[A] sophisticated and perceptive reading... The performances reveal the huge variety of musical expression in these works, the shifts in character, the often surprising interplay of parts, and the wealth of instrumental color.”
– American Record Guide
8.570938
“Simply the best: An unrivalled version, a cornerstone of the catalogue. A real gem!”
– Gramophone