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The internationally celebrated, Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet joins forces with legendary pianist Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio for this presentation of Brahms’s Piano Quintet, a pillar of German Romanticism that opens with one of the most recognizable melodies in classical music. Pressler, a consummate chamber artist, performs the virtuosic piano part with a clarity and transparency that makes the piano seem like a fellow member of the string ensemble. While a half century separates the pianist, who is in his 90s, from the group members, the noteworthy generation-crossing collaboration yields a spacious, sweeping traversal that sets its own pace to build suspense and drama. Pressler has played the Brahms quartet live with marquee string ensembles for over 50 years but this is his first recording of it. The programme offers the unusual, perhaps unprecedented, pairing of the Brahms with a string quartet by his champion Robert Schumann, a staple of the Pacifica Quartet's repertoire. Dedicated to Mendelssohn, the buoyant, sprightly Romantic piece showcases the Pacifica’s virtuosity and exuberant style while offering a contrast to Brahms’s moodier masterwork.