Ensemble Kontraste - Rabl, Zemlinsky, Brahms (2005)

This fine CD is a thoughtful and very generous combination of three late-Romantic pieces: one well known (the Brahms), one less known (the Zemlinsky), and one (the Rabl) that appears to have its first ever recording here. All three pieces are served admirably by this remarkable ensemble, and also by sensitive high-quality engineering. While all three are excellent, I agree with the last reviewer that the Rabl stands out from the other two. It appears to be the first piece ever written for the combination of violin, clarinet, cello, and piano (next deployed, I think, by Hindemith in 1938; and then famously by Messiaen in his Quatuor pour la fin du temps, of 1941). Rabl was only twenty-three when he entered the quartet in a competition, which brought it and him to the admiring attention of Brahms. It won first prize, and then seems to have slipped into obscurity. Congratulations to Ensemble Konstraste for bringing it to our attention once more!