Béla Bartók and George Enescu were born in same Year - 1881, Bartók in the Austrian-Hungarian city of Nagyszentmiklós (today Romania), Enescu in the Moldovian town of Liveni-Botoșani (today Romania). Both pieces on this recording are youthful works of theirs – 1900 (Enescu’s Octet) and 1907 (Bartók’s First Violin Concerto). Both works were neglected – Enescu’s Octet for nearly a decade due to the challenges of the piece (being premiered in 1909), and Bartók’s Concerto was neglected by its dedicatee, the violinist Stefi Geyer (who was also his young love), and was published only after her death, in 1956 (being premiered in 1958). Bartók and Enescu both died in self-chosen exile – Bartók 1945 in New York, Enescu 1955 in Paris – yet both were respected and admired for being contributors to the development of their countries’ culture and art, particularly as great “ambassadors” for folk music.