Description:

The Notos Quartet, a piano quartet formed in Berlin in 2007, is now a major presence on the European chamber music scene. This debut album, realized on the occasion of their 10th anniversary, features three chamber works by three leading Hungarian composers of the 20th century. The most noteworthy is the world premiere recording of Bartók's Piano Quartet, written at the age of 17 but unpublished, with the autograph score said to have been lost, but after years of searching, the members of the Notos Quartet finally found the score and made the recording. This masterpiece is a work in the late Romantic style reminiscent of Brahms, with Bartók's later personality flashing through the music. The coupling is the young piano quartet No. 1 by Dohnányi, a contemporary of Bartók, and the Intermezzo by Kodály, which was awarded the prestigious German music prize "Echo Prize" at the time of its release in 2017. (C)RS