Brahms - Piano Quartet No.1 in G Minor Op. 25 (Batiashvili, V. Mendelssohn, Aimard, Wieder-Atherton)

From the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland.

Johannes Brahms - Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25
Johannes Brahms - Klavierquartett Nr. 1 in G-Moll, Opus 25

Piano - Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Violin - Lisa Batiashvili
Violin - Vladimir Mendelssohn
Cello - Sonia Wieder-Atherton

0:00 Entrance
00:37 - I. Allegro
14:42 - II. Intermezzo: Allegro ma non troppo — Trio: Animato
22:37 - III. Andante con moto
30:15 - IV. Rondo all Zingarese: Presto

Born in Tbilisi, Lisa Batiashvili moved to Germany with her family at the age of eleven. There she studied with Mark Lubotsky and with Ana Chumachenco. The youngest-ever entrant in the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in 1995, she made her breakthrough as winner of its second prize. She was named winner of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival’s Leonard Bernstein Award in 2003 and awarded the 2006 Beethoven Ring Prize by the Beethoven Festival Bonn.

Vladimir Mendelssohn was born into a family of musicians and attended the National University of Music Bucharest. He taught at a number of conservatories, such as the Conservatoire de Paris, where he served as a professor of chamber music. He was also a professor at the Folkwang University of the Arts and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.

Pierre-Laurent Aimard was born in Lyon, where he entered the conservatory. Later he studied with Yvonne Loriod and with Maria Curcio. In 1973, he was awarded the chamber music prize of the Paris Conservatoire. In the same year, he won the first prize at the international Olivier Messiaen Competition. In 1977, at the invitation of Pierre Boulez, he became a founding member of the Ensemble InterContemporain.

Sonia Wieder - Atherton was born in San Francisco, she grew up in New York and then in Paris where she entered the Conservatoire de Paris in Maurice Gendron's class. She is the sister of Claire Atherton. After her studies at the Conservatoire de Paris in the cello classes of Maurice Gendron and chamber music of Jean Hubeau, she studied with Mstislav Rostropovich, then two years at the Moscow Conservatory with Natalia Shakhovskaya. In 1986, she was a laureate of the concours de violoncelle Rostropovitch. In chamber music, she plays with pianists Imogen Cooper, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Laurent Cabasso, cellists Raphaël Oleg and Silvia Marcovici, the violist Gérard Caussé, percussionist Françoise Rivalland. In 1999, the Académie des beaux-arts (France) awards her the Grand Prix Del Duca.

© 2002, Licensed by Digital Classics Distribution

[RayMak]

So extremely beautiful!!! Shows entire emotions of Brahms when he was writing this piece. So much to handle.

[lisztme]

Agree with all of the laudatory comments here. For me, there were also numerous small revelations: The delicate phrasing and 'breathing, , ' the clarity of enunciation, and the bringing out of inner voices I hadn't noticed in other performances. Simply beautiful.

[BsktImp]

The smiles at the end of the second movement (22:14 – 22:31)! 😊 And that presto wow!
00:34 I: _Allegro_
14:38 II: Intermezzo: _Allegro ma non troppo_ — Trio: _Animato_
22:36 III: _Andante con moto_
32:44 IV: Rondo alla Zingarese: _Presto_

[staffanolofsson]

I will write the same comment as I wrote about Brahms third piano quartet:
"This is profound music, so profound that I had to get really old to understand how profound it is. Now I love it. It has taken almost a lifetime. Maybe the best experiences come late in life?"
Still, in comparison I like this first one better, maybe because of its a little more elegiac feeling. This is my favourite interpretation on YouTube.

[staffanolofsson]

Very beautiful music, among the best chamber music by Brahms! This ensemble plays with such an inspiration that I can nothing but enjoy.

[staffanolofsson]

The camera people have done and exellent job! Seldom we can see such an active camera as in this, well aware of the music

[ivanruff]

A stunning performance of this complex and beautiful music. A further delight is the camerawork, taking us close up to the players, the intensity of their facial expressions and the brilliance of their fingerwork.The warmth and togetherness of the players infuses the music, and comes through to the viewer/listener. A great experience.

[petermerelis]

the andante is my favorite movement of all of Brahms' works

[semperfidelis]

A superb version of this famous quartet, known for its difficulty. The spirited fourth movement, the rondo alla zingarese is given an exhilarating performance; it was good to see the smiles in the string players appreciating the fast and furious piano part, so well played by Pierre-Laurent Aimard. More Brahms Chamber music from this ensemble, please.

[oldsingleplayer]

this one is legendary. I've been watching for 10+ years.

[manueldeelias]

Exelente interpretación. Música pura.

[nointernetdinosoursgame]

Got chills from this, thank you for uploading this, was in a rut and this helped a lot

[staffanolofsson]

In chamber music it is always "we", not "I". The togetherness in music. So it is perhaps not so good to talk about individual musicians. Anyway, since this uptaking from 2002, Lisa Batiashvili has had a wonderful career. About the other musicians I dont know, I hope of course they also have had their careers.
And thank you all for this quite wonderful interpretation of Brahms first Piano Quartet!

[nancybeckmann]

Thank you for sharing this superb performance of one of my favorite pieces.

[nicolasjoly]

in the presentation text, it is not a violin but a viola

[Valbakrac]

Laat movement starts at 32:45 not at 30:15

[lukefer]

The piano still dominates and we can barely hear the strings when they are in the same register. Why can’t classical concerts be mic’d?