Composer: Johannes Brahms
Performer: András Schiff, Takács Quartet, Members of the New Vienna Octet
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Eloquence
Catalogue: ELQ4801280
Release: 2013
Size: 568 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
CD 01
Clarinet Trio in A Minor, Op. 114
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Adagio
03. III. Andante grazioso
04. IV. Allegro
Horn Trio in E-Flat Major, Op. 40
05. I. Andante – Poco più animato
06. II. Scherzo. Allegro
07. III. Adagio mesto
08. IV. Finale. Allegro con brio
Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op. 23
09. Theme
10. Variation 1
11. Variation 2
12. Variation 3
13. Variation 4
14. Variation 5
15. Variation 6
16. Variation 7
17. Variation 8
18. Variation 9
19. Variation 10
CD 02
Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
01. 1. Allegro non troppo
02. 2. Andante, un poco adagio
03. 3. Scherzo (Allegro)
04. 4. Finale: Poco sostenuto – Allegro non troppo
Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115
05. I. Allegro
06. II. Adagio
07. III. Andantino – Presto non assai, ma con sentimento
08. IV. Con moto
This collection of five of Brahms’s chamber music masterpieces includes four with piano and all of these feature the supreme artistry of András Schiff. Both the quintets – for clarinet and for piano – are included; the recording of the Clarinet Quintet with Peter Schmidl with members of the New Vienna Octet, receives its first release on CD. The rarest of the chamber works on this collection is the set of Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann. Composed in 1854 for piano four-hands, Brahms’s biographer Malcolm MacDonald called it a ‘special act of solace’ for Clara Schumann, to whom they were dedicated. In fact, the title page reads, ‘Minor Variations on a Theme by Him, Dedicated to Her’. Here, Schiff is joined by his Hungarian compatriot Sir Georg Solti, at the piano. Also representing Hungary on this collection is the Takács Quartet.