The works of Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann and Joseph Joachim have fascinated me for a very long time. So I was honored that Etsuko Hirose welcomes with such enthusiasm the idea of bringing together in a single recording these three composers, so intimately linked in their lives as in their music. This project is that of the discovery of the intimate bond which united Johannes Brahms to Clara Schumann even in their sentimental universe. As for Joseph Joachim, famous as a violinist, but also as a violist, he composed magnificent pieces for this latter instrument, such as the Hebrew Melodies. He also played a magnificent Alto by Gasparo da Salo, Brescia from 1609. It is therefore quite naturally that the idea of bringing together the two instruments, the violin and the viola, came to me in the same recording. Etsuko and I have endeavored to find the richest and most expressive sound palette possible. One can feel in this music a humanity, an exceptional intelligence coupled with an overwhelming sensitivity. Basically, the vision of Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann and Joseph Joachim, favors singing, not just the instrument, which they seem to have completely surpassed. This music and our project therefore take on their full meaning. (Pierre Lenert).