This new album of two piano quartets by Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) consists of pianist Lars Vogt’s last recordings. Before his premature death and between treatments, Lars Vogt was able to record a multi-award-winning album of piano chamber music works by Schubert together with Christian Tetzlaff and Tanja Tetzlaff, as well as albums of Mozart’s and Mendelssohn’s piano concertos. However, a project to record Brahms’s complete piano quartets was left unfinished after the studio recording of Piano Quartet no.2 was completed. With the help of recording producer Christoph Franke, we are now able to offer this recording together with Piano Quartet no.3 from a live concert performance in connection with the studio recording. Combined, these make up Lars Vogt’s last recordings. Violinist Christian Tetzlaff, violist Barbara Buntrock and cellist Tanja Tetzlaff offer stellar performances in these landmark recordings and fulfill Lars Vogt’s late wish to have these performances released.

‘I remember from the last week I spent with Lars that he was determined to release the C minor quartet. And so, we are doing that now. The fact that it couldn’t be recorded in full is simply part of the situation. But I find the combination so fitting: The A major quartet is an immense piece, a baroque composition of profound beauty. It unfolds majestically, reflecting an aspect of Lars’s enormous and upbeat personality. And the C minor quartet – written by Brahms as a piece dealing with a man’s death and most likely reflecting on the passing of Robert Schumann – serves as a memorial piece in this sense. Brahms expresses this in a desperate life situation, and we do the same with our interpretation of this piece for our friend Lars.’ – Christian Tetzlaff

Christian Tetzlaff is considered one of the world’s leading international violinists and maintains a most extensive performing schedule. Musical America named him ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ in 2005. His recording of the Bartók Violin Concertos (ODE13172) received both Gramophone and ICMA Awards, and the recording was also a finalist for the BBC Music Award in 2019. His recording of the Violin Concertos by Mendelssohn and Schumann, released on Ondine in 2011 (ODE11952), and Bach Sonatas and Partitas released in 2017 (ODE12992D) received the ‘Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik’. In addition, in 2015 ICMA awarded Christian Tetzlaff as the ‘Artist of the Year’, and he also received ECHO ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ award in 2017 for his album of Brahms Violin Sonatas (ODE12842). His recordings on Ondine with Brahms’s Trios (ODE12712D) and Violin Concertos by Dvorák and Suk (ODE12795), released in 2015 and 2016, earned Grammy nominations.

Barbara Buntrock received her first violin lessons at the age of five and only discovered her love of the viola shortly before starting her studies. She has studied with Werner Dickel, Barbara Westphal, Heidi Castleman, Tabea Zimmermann and Lars Anders Tomter. Buntrock has won prizes in many international competitions, including a second prize at the Tokyo International Viola Competition in June 2012. Her hometown Wuppertal has also awarded her with the Von der Heydt Prize in 2008. From February 2009 to December 2010, Barbara Buntrock was first solo viola player in the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig before embarking to solo and chamber music projects. Buntrock’s latest album releases include the recording of Walter Braunfels’s Scottish Fantasy for viola and orchestra, as well as the viola concertos by Christian Westerhoff.

Cellist Tanja Tetzlaff performs an extensive repertoire, including the staple solo and chamber music literature, and important compositions of the 20th and 21st centuries. Tanja Tetzlaff has played with leading orchestras such as the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Royal Flanders Philharmonic, Spanish National Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de Paris and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and collaborated with conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Daniel Harding, Philippe Herreweghe, Sir Roger Norrington, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Dmitri Kitajenko, Paavo Järvi, Michael Gielen and Heinz Holliger. Chamber music also plays a significant part in her career, with regular appearances alongside Leif Ove Andsnes, Alexander Lonquich, Antje Weithaas, Florian Donderer, Baiba and Lauma Skride, and her brother, Christian Tetzlaff. In 1994 Tanja founded the Tetzlaff Quartett, with Christian Tetzlaff, Elisabeth Kufferath and Hanna Weinmeister.

One of the greatest pianists of his generation, Lars Vogt was appointed the first ever “Pianist in Residence” by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2003/04 and enjoyed a high profile as a soloist and chamber musician. His debut solo recording on Ondine with Bach’s Goldberg Variations (ODE12732) was released in August 2015 with great critical success. During the years Lars Vogt recorded 15 further albums for Ondine, including the complete piano concertos of Beethoven and Brahms. For these albums Lars Vogt received a Grammy nomination in 2015, ECHO Award in 2017, Opus Klassik award in 2021, and ICMA Award in 2022, among others, plus numerous nominations. His album release of Schubert’s trios together with Christian Tetzlaff and Tanja Tetzlaff (ODE13942D) won ICMA album of the year award 2024, ICMA chamber music award 2024, OPUS Klassik, Jahrespreis den deutschen Schallplattenkritik and was also nominated for the BBC Music Magazine Awards.