Faure: Piano Quartets Nos No 1 & 2

"The playing is magnificent, not just for its superb ensemble qualities, including ideal balances between the piano and strings, but also for what it tells us about the music. If you've been turned off by this music before, finding it too subdued and lacking in vivid contrasts, then you owe it to yourself to hear these beautifully recorded performances. They will surely change your mind." (10/10 ClassicsToday March 2010)

"The French Trio Wanderer sail through his two piano quartets with masterful ease. Vincent Coq's nimble piano is a constant joy, while Raphael Pidoux's cello spins sombre magic in op 15's slow movement." The Times, 9th January 2010 ****

"Harmonia Mundi has done the trio and Tamestit's voluptuous viola proud. The sound is sumptuous, almost symphonic in scale and expansiveness...The intimate Fauré has rarely sounded more dramatic or passionate." Sunday Times, 24th January 2010 ****

"Trio Wanderer is here joined by Antoine Tamestit for performances of Fauré's two piano quartets that combine sensibility with winning strength of purpose. Fauré's melodic gifts are nurtured, and so, too, are the animated textures that make these quartets so fascinating and rewarding." The Telegraph, 5th February 2010 ****

"The Trio Wanderer, bolstered by Antoine Tamesit on viola, is soft-grained with wonderfully fluid string phrasing and rounded tone from the entire ensemble." BBC Music Magazine, April 2010 ****

The indispensable keyboard. Gabriel Fauré was a remarkable pianist who included his instrument in almost all his compositions, but seldom as a soloist: he preferred to combine it with chamber ensembles to produce the intimate atmosphere he so favoured.

With the instrumental formula of string trio + piano, he set out in his own way to follow in the footsteps of Schumann and Brahms.