Graham Rickson of The Arts Desk has a generous new review of our Bartók & Kodály recording:
“The Second Quartet’s pounding middle movement is fantastic here, and the quartet’s elusive close is nicely taught. You’ll rarely hear the compact, pungent Third Quartet dance as it does here, the last few minutes being thrilling without being too abrasive. … You reach the valedictory Sixth with some trepidation – sad that it’s the last quartet, and apprehensive as to whether this team will catch the music’s elusive, melancholy cast. They do, with ease, and the music’s ambiguous close is caught to perfection.
“…Kodály’s slightly more listener-friendly idiom makes his works an ideal appetiser before diving into the Bartók set. The compact Second is especially enjoyable, concluding with an exuberant sequence of dances. This is a set to treasure, beautifully recorded and well-annotated. It’s also incredibly reasonably priced, and hopefully will prompt listeners to seek out this team’s equally impressive Shostakovich cycle.” — Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk
Read the full review on www.theartsdesk.com
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