Brahms: Piano Quartets Nos. 2 & 3 (2LP)

"I know of no other composer who can compete with Brahms in terms of musical quality. Everything in Brahms' chamber music is simply fantastic, the sonatas, the trios, the clarinet quintet. There is not one bad piece." Krystian Zimerman's enthusiasm for chamber music began in his childhood and has been with him ever since. He says: "Every great composer has written a quartet with piano. This is an incredible treasure of music history that gets far too little attention". Although the Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor is probably the best known of Johannes Brahms' three piano quartets, Zimerman focuses instead on the often less noticed Quartets No. 2 and No. 3 to give them the attention they deserve. "I particularly love the Third Quartet. It's a crazy, powerful piece that has an incredible drive," says Zimerman. For this recording, Krystian Zimerman has teamed up with cellist Yuya Okamoto, violinist Maria Nowak and violist Katarzyna Budnik.