Carducci Quartet Concert ReviewsPress Quotes
‘This had better be good.’ That was my ungracious thought as I arrived on a chilly, wet afternoon for the latest Oxford Chamber Music Society concert, which was packed to capacity, in spite of the weather. No doubt the Carduccis picked their programme long ago, but they must have had a sixth sense about the dreary day outside: the largely cheerful music on offer was just the right antidote – somehow this was not the afternoon for heavy-end Beethoven or Shostakovich. Instead proceedings opened with Finzi’s Five Bagatelles, opus 23. It’s a pastoral work for quartet (originally piano) and clarinet, reflecting the atmosphere of rural England in an age before birdsong had to compete with the road of modern traffic – although the countryside did sound as if it was already quite fast moving in the exhilarating opening Prelude. BBC Young Musicians Competition finalist Sarah Williamson, playing the clarinet part, emphasised that wistful, yet confident, sound which seems to come only from English composers. More rural music next, this time Dvorak’s Quartet in F major, The American. Written when Dvorak was visiting the small farming community of Spillville, Iowa, the work combines the feel of American and European folk tunes with the composer’s yearning for his homeland. The Carduccis (Matthew Denton and Michelle Fleming, violins, Eoin Schmidt-Martin, viola, and Emma Denton, cello) brought out both the jolly and the heartfelt aspects of the piece – not forgetting that (we were pointedly told beforehand) the Finale reflects Dvorak’s love of trains, and of drinking music critics under the table ……. To end this most enjoyable concert, the well-matched Carducci players were rejoined by Sarah Wlliamson for Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet. In a performance that overall perhaps emphasised the cheerful rather than the sombre emotions in the music, Williamson blended seamlessly in and out of the string writing – it sounded as if she had been a lifelong member of the Carducci team.
Style and passion from the Carducci String Quartet The Carducci String Quartet opened the Inverness Chamber Music Society's new season of concerts with a performance that combined stylish elegance with passionate commitment. The group have come a long way in a relatively short period, and now stand firmly among the cream of the younger chamber groups in Britain. Alison Marr, the new Chairman of the ICMS, affirmed the Society's commitment to remaining at the Town House "for the foreseeable future", citing the excellent acoustics among the principal reasons for their loyalty to the venue. That perception was confirmed again when the group took to the stage with Haydn's "String Quartet in D major, Op. 24, No. 4". Their playing set the high standard they maintained throughout the recital. The work divides neatly into two rather sombre, elegant movements followed by two more lively and robust ones, suffused with Hungarian influences. Each movement was scrupulously characterised as well as beautifully played, and provided another reminder of precisely why Haydn's quartets are regarded as the cornerstone of the repertoire. It was followed by a very different work, Janacek's "String Quartet No. 1, The Kreutzer". It was inspired by Tolstoy's novel "The Kreutzer Sonata", which in turn took its title from Beethoven's sonata of that name, a work which plays a pivotal role in the novel and is quoted briefly in this quartet. It is biting, intensely passionate music, and the players — violinists Matthew Denton and Michelle Fleming, viola player Eoin Schmidt-Martin and cellist Emma Denton — extracted the full measure of emotional and musical drama in a performance of sustained depth and expressiveness.
They closed with Beethoven's "String Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2", a revolutionary work that threw the best musicians of its day into confusion. No such problems arose for the Carduccis, and their assured and authoritative performance was rounded out with a very different encore, Astor Piazzolla's "Four, for Tango", a rarity in the Argentinian's output in being actually composed for a string quartet (the Kronos Quartet) rather than his own tango group. Matthew Denton's enthusiastic and occasionally eccentric introductions were a feature of the concert, and a useful palliative to the notion that classical musicians must remain somewhat aloof from their audiences. That outmoded habit is now disappearing, and the group demonstrated that a more informal approach to presentation need not infringe on the quality or seriousness of the music. KM
CARDUCCI QUARTET - THREE CHOIRS FESTIVAL - AUGUST 10TH There have been many committed performances during the festival, but few as compelling as this concert by the Carducci Quartet. Whether playing music by living composers or past masters, these musicians tackle both with equal energy. They have a knack of bringing overlooked details to the fore, like the playful first violin figures in Haydn's D major Quartet, or the surprising cadences in the minuet of Beethoven's C minor Quartet from his opus 18 set. Graham Whettam's First Quartet sat easily in this company.
Violinist Matthew Denton set the work in context, but in the hearing it was Whettam's own distinctive voice that prevailed. While the ghostly harmonics at the fade of the final movement harked back to Bartok, the most arresting moments occurred when all four players traded pizzicato licks, jazz style, giving way to an impassioned cello solo from Emma Denton. Similarly, Elizabeth Maconchy's Quartetto Corto pulled no punches. It's a short, pithy piece, intellectually rigorous but not at all cerebral. In the hands of other performers this would be difficult music, but the Carduccis make it sound effortless. Where the Carducci Quartet scores over its counterparts is in the musicians' ability to communicate, both between themselves and with their audience. Not for them the atmosphere of a demure drawing room. Instead an occasion that is frisky and full of joie de vivre.
Wigmore Hall - London - 27 March 2007 Back at the Wigmore Hall on 27 March another fine group, the Carducci Quartet, was joined by pianist Nicola Eimer for a programme of Mozart, Ravel and Schumann. Following the current fashion for the chamber versions of Mozart concertos, the players opened with a lively and shapely performance of his A major Concerto K414. Ravel's Quartet, which followed, received a kaleidoscopic performance, exquisite and restless, pushing urgently through its constantly changing emotional landscape, the many tricky corners negotiated with perfectly judged rubato. For all its beauty, this was a muscular reading. Their performance of Schumann's Piano Quintet was one of constant intelligence, in which repeats and recapitulations were always re-examined. Quartet show off musical talents, Shrewsbury, March 2007 String quartets by Mozart, Ravel and Beethoven were played The Carducci Quartet in their concert, promoted by Shropshire Music at the Lion Hotel. From the opening notes of Mozart's Quartet in D major, K499 it was obvious that we were listening to four young players of exceptional talent.
Matthew Denton and Michelle Fleming on violins, viola player Eoin Schmidt-Martin and cellist Emma Denton are superbly matched. Each has a full luxurious tone and were attuned to each other's playing with total empathy.
As with the other two quartets, in the Mozart all the players are given parts of equal importance and the viola and cello in particular produced sumptuous velvety sounds.
Ravel's only quartet is one of the gems of the quartet repertoire, influenced both by his fellow French composers and jazz.
It was perhaps here that we heard the Carducci quartet at their very finest, the rich, well-balanced sound never less than superb.
The very same virtues were at work in Beethoven's Quartet in C minor, Op 18 No 4. Although an early work the energy, vitality and complexity already point the way to the miraculous late quartets of the composer's final years.
The performance was beyond criticism. Irish Tour, March 2007 John Field Room, National Concert Hall, Dublin Though this was the shortest concert of their six-day Irish tour, it left no doubts as to why the dynamic young Carducci Quartet have garnered successes in so many recent international competitions. Their combination of technical rigour, penetrative musical insight and lively yet unified individalism is winning in every sense of the word.
Two of them Irish, two English, these proteges of the RTE Vanbrugh Quartet have all the makings of an ensemble-for-life. Now a pair of married couples, they've recently launched their own CD label with a debut disc of Haydn.
Their live performance of the last of his Op 50 quartets was unaffectedly elegant, with a deep sense of connectedness running beneath the first movement's scattered surface details.
Light sonorities, thoughful phrasing an impeccably integrated timbres made this a reading of unusual freshness and appeal. The supposedly croaky musical onomatopoeia that originally suggested this piece's nickname of "Frog" might be rather lost on contemporary ears, but there could never be any mistaking the American flavour of Dvorak's Op 96 quartet.
In effortlessly capturing its simple joys and simple sorrows, the Carduccis did just what this loveable and unashamedly rustic music requires. With four artists so equally matched technically and tempermentally, to single out individual contributions would, perhaps, be invidious. But mention must be made of cellist Emma Denton's ravishing melodic playing at the close of Dvorak's brooding slow movement. The Carducci Quartet will return to Ireland in July and August for concerts in Co. Cork and Kilkenny.
The spontaneous gasps of pleasure from the audience, that greeted the final notes of Dvorak's "American" quartet, Op. 96 in F, in the magnificently restored Drawing Room of Fota House, were well deserved. This was a superb performance, as fine as one could wish to hear. Music lovers in Dublin and Wexford, Bray and Birr would be well advised not to miss this first-class quartet on this, their first Irish tour.
The quartet (two husband-and-wife couples, one English, one Irish) has an open-air freshness about the sound and they play with what feels like abandon. There is, in fact, nothing left to chance. Although every detail is carefully thought out and beautifully balanced, it feels as if everything is spontaneous, with the result that the players' enjoyment of what they are about communicates itself to the audience in a most endearing fashion.
Haydn's "Frog" quartet, Op 50 No 6 in D, needs, and got, spectacularly virtuosic playing from both Matthew (violin) and Emma (cello) Denton, while the inner voices of Michelle Fleming (violin) and Eoin Schmidt-Martin (viola) balanced and supported them perfectly. The Ravel was rhythmically free, atmospheric, mysterious, brilliantly balanced and kaleidoscopically colourful, while the Dvorak was Romantic (in every sense), passionate and wonderfully exciting. Their ability to caress every last detail and still convey spontaneity was quite staggering.
Carducci set to captivate A first Irish tour will be a homecoming for one half of this acclaimed quartet Remembering many of the best musicians who learned their trade in the same youth orchestras as I did and have since gone on to fill roles in the highest echelons of musical standards, two of them paint a particularly vivid memory.But, more importantly, as half of a young string quartet that is earning ever greater acclaim, they represent another international feather in the cap of our country's artistic ability. The Irish half of the Carducci quartet are violinist Michelle Fleming and violist Eoin Schmidt-Martin, alumni of the prolific Cork School of Music. For as long as I've known them, they have not only been each others' other half but also chamber music partners in various guises, in the Quay quintet, for example, winners of the RTE Millenium Musician of the Year Ensemble Prize. Having teamed up with English violinist/cellist couple Matthew and Emma Denton, and based themselves in London, Michelle and Eoin are laying part claim to even more significant prizes. Most recently, the Carducci quartet was awarded the Jury prize at the 2006 London International String Quartet Competition, with first prize at the 2004 Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition and a "Communication and Culture" award at the 2005 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition already in the bag. Audiences at last year's West Cork Chamber Music Festival will fondly remember the Carducci from the three concerts with which they enchanted audiences. Scottish Tour, January 2007 The Aberdeen Chamber Music Club has played host to any number of young rising stars in its 77 years, but few could have been so passionate and alluring as the multi-award winning Anglo-Irish Carducci Quartet.
Hailed as one of Europe's top young string quartets they swept the audience off their seats at the Cowdray Hall last night in a concert that was nothing short of inspiring. After the first movement of the Haydn Quartet in D op.50 it was all I could do not to leap up applauding.
Matthew Denton leads with a playful drive that borders on a sort of mischievous magic which is highly infectious. Joined by the brilliant pianist Nicola Eimer for blistering performances of the Schumann and Brahsm Piano Quintets the five musicians took us on an unforgettable journey through the emotional landscape of the music. Quartet makes a big impact **** Brahms's F minor Piano Quintet, a big work that thrives on big performances, made maximum impact this week in the sumptuous acoustics of St Peter's Kirkcaldy.
In these intimate surroundings, the Kirkcaldy Music Society has built up sufficient local support to present seven concerts this season by the cream of young ensembles, among which the Carducci - Anglo-Irish in origin but named after an Italian village associated with a top Tuscan olive oil - is a multi-prizewinner.
With Nicola Eimer as the most perceptive and sensitive of pianists, Brahms was ensured unwavering clarity of utterance in the thundering scherzo and lilting slow movement...underpinned by firm, strong cello tone.
A bold, keenly articulated account of Haydn's Frog Quartet, opened a programme wich, with variations, will be touring several lucky Scottish music clubs this month. 10 things you need to do... January 2007
Carducci quartet a group of note It was clear from the outset that this quartet enjoys playing together. In the Haydn quartet they communicated this to the audience in a most convincing manner...the players demonstrated their musical flair, to give a quite outstanding interpretation.
The contrast of the Shostakovitch with the Haydn is immense...awkward to decode on a first hearing. But when music of this sort is given a performance as good as we heard, many of these difficulties vanish and one is left feeling exhilarated.
Wigmore Hall - London - 18 Dec 2006 The Carducci Quartet played a blinder at the Wigmore Hall. It brought exhuberance and feeling to Haydn's op.20 no.4, with playing of vivacity and constant rhythmic subtlety. This is Haydn wearing his brilliance lightly, and the Carducci matched him in fleetness and elegance. Two newish works followed: David Matthews's Tenth Quartet and Osvaldo Golijov's Yiddishbbuk. The Carducci steered a sure course through Matthews's passages of dance and stasis, with well-pointed syncopations and tightly controlled energy. The players also had fun with the Australian birdsong, upside-down cuckoo and all. This is a charming work, full of good things. The Yiddishbbuk is a darker piece, each of its movements a commemoration: of three children killed by the Nazis, of Isaac Bashevis Singer and of Leonard Bernstein. The Carducci showed it to contain a wealth of vivid and contrasting tableaux, bleak, relentless, agitated, frantic, ending with a unison shout of anger. The performance of Beethoven's second 'Razumovsky' Quartet, op.59 no.2, which ended the concert was superb. This was playing of constant variety, a masterclass in unanimity of musical purpose, in which severity could melt seamlessly into charm, and drama into geniality. The interplay of parts in the Scherzo was a delight; the finale was taken at a gallop, with exhuberant playing from the leader, Matthew Denton. The final event to be hosted this year by the Park Lane Group brought the excellent Carducci Quartet to the Wigmore Hall for a neatly balanced recital in which two significant contemporary scores were framed by two complementary Viennese classics. Hard to believe it is now almost six years ago since the Tenth Quartet (2000) by David Matthews received its premiere here. This short but unerringly-proportioned work – its preludial first movement drawing on birdsong from New South Wales which its lengthier successor expands into an increasingly expressive dance, before a return to the initial calm – is typical of this composer in its unassuming depth, and was given a highly perceptive performance. Immediate contrast followed with the high drama of Osvaldo Golijov's Yiddishbbuk (1992). Those who remain unconvinced by the often forced and unoriginal 'crossover' of more recent works from this composer pieces could not doubt his seriousness of intent here. Drawing on apocryphal (and now all but destroyed) psalm texts, as tantalisingly described by Kafka, its three movements respectively commemorate three children who were interned at the Terezin transit camp, the writer Isaac Singer and finally Leonard Bernstein. Music whose evident pungency and desolation evokes an unlikely but compelling fusion of Janáček and Schnittke, it demands the unanimity of attack and expressive focus it received from the Carducci – the musicians sheer responsiveness and commitment was never in doubt. Formed near the beginning of this decade, the Carducci Quartet evinces a combination of technical security and emotional spontaneity essential in quartet-playing. The members did considerable justice to the fourth of Haydn's Opus 20 sequence – notable for the probing set of variations comprising the slow movement, and a Minuet whose Hungarian-inflected vitality makes of it a scherzo in all but name. Familiar fare in the quartet repertoire these days, Haydn's generous output tends rather to be taken for granted by many ensembles – making this well-prepared and impulsive account a pleasure to encounter. Almost as fine was Beethoven's 'Second Razumovsky' quartet. The Carducci had the measure of the Allegro's restive energy and brought no mean intensity to the Adagio's introspection. The scherzo's halting agitation was well caught, as was the trio's robust 'Russian-ness', while the finale – perhaps a barbed homage to the exhibitionism of the 'Quatuor brillant' tradition – sped lithely on its way to a propulsive ending. A fine showing, then, for this gifted ensemble – as at home in standard as in modern repertoire. The musicians returned for an unexpected encore: the 'Waltz' from Britten's Three Divertimenti – a work that met with stony silence at its 1936 Wigmore Hall premiere, and accorded a rather warmer reception on this occasion. "Nabokov once wrote that a particularly apposite word should produce a 'spinal vibrato.' A good musical performance should have the same effect. Certainly when I came across the young Carducci Quartet, it was my spine which let me know I was hearing the work of a very exciting ensemble.
Their recordings page contains a complete performance of the final movement of Haydn's quartet Op 76, No.2, and if it doesn't get your back bone bouncing with pleasure then I don't know what will. Accuracy of attack, perfect intonation, unflagging energy...its truly great stuff. No wonder the group has won umpteen international prizes, including the jury prize at this year's London International String Quartet Competition."
"The musicians of the Carducci Quartet were in fine fettle, despite the fact that a thread wove through their programme, striking a sombre note. But quality performances meant the overall effect was uplifting.
Ian Wilson's Sixth Quartet was an engaging piece with emotional depth. This was followed by pieces from John Woolrich, David Matthews and Zev Gordon, with only the second movement of the Matthews offering some light relief to the show.
But the highlight was the Shostakovitch Quartet, which was given a wonderfully spirited reading. The adagio, in memory of the Dead, seemed to draw the theme of the evening together with characteristic darkness and intensity."
"The Carducci Quartet,from the UK, performed Shostakovitch's Ninth Quartet with a potent mixture of deep feeling and irony. As the performance progressed so did the intensity and passionate
"Bolívar Hall, attached to the Venezuelan Embassy, was the well-chosen venue for this first of four concerts featuring two enterprising chamber ensembles.
This programme was a wide-ranging affair, taking in the wistful anonymity of Colin Matthews's Little Berceuse (2004) and the high drama of Osvaldo Golijov's Yiddishbbuk (1992). Those unconvinced by the forced and unoriginal 'crossover' of certain pieces heard recently at the Barbican could not doubt his seriousness of intent here: drawing on psalm texts as imagined by Kafka – its three movements respectively commemorate children interned at Terezin, writer Isaac Singer and Leonard Bernstein. Music whose pungency and desolation recall Schnittke, it demands absolute unanimity of attack and focus of expression – which it received from the Carducci Quartet, whose responsiveness and commitment was never in doubt.
Although on an appreciably smaller scale, Ingoldsby's Pocket String Quartet (2005) is no less representative – the single movement a fast-slow-fast format which might be the sonata process approached from an obliquely intriguing angle. Incisively played by the Carducci, in what was the work's first hearing, it made a vivid impression – as did the majority of the pieces."
"The Carducci Quartet showed a sparkling control of tempo and timbre in another modern classic, Dutilleux's Ainsi la nuit, as part of its Park Lane Group recital. These musicians brought concentrated stillness at a similarly attenuated dynamic level to the Arditti, but with quite different results. The Arditti is renowned for a forthright, Boulez-like reading of Ainsi; the Carducci contained itself within a scale that was entirely appropriate for the small, dry acoustic of the Purcell Room. Recent successes for the ensemble include the Bordeaux competition, and it was a smart move to give the London premiere of the competition commission, Six moments musicaux by Kurtag. These Webernian aphorisms were securely under the players fingers - the fifth's whistling study in harmonics, and Emma Denton's distant, interrupted cello recitative in the fourth were nicely judged."
"...the Carducci Quartet made an impressive showing in the textural and formal intricacies of Dutilleux's intricately structured Ainsi La Nuit...Standards are regularly so high in these concerts their technical excellence can be taken for granted, but even so, the Carducci's security in giving the first London performance of Gyorgy Kurtag's Six Moments Musicaux, and the premiere of Three Short Pieces for String Quartet by Michael Zev Gordon, was striking."
"The Carducci String Quartet astonished with their ability and maturity...and gave a fine performance of Kurtag's Moments Musicaux, the London premiere..."
"In the early-evening recital the Carducci String Quartet were stunning in the quicksilver mood changes and creepy atmosphere of Kurtag's Six Moments Musicaux, with its spooky harmonics and desperately sad, almost nihilistic, ending. They are clearly musicians of high intelligence."
"The PLG Young Artists week 2006 got off to a magnificent start in an international programme, with two groups and a solo pianist who all came up to proof and fulfilled high expectations. The Carducci String Quartet had honed their accounts of new miniatures by Kurtag and Dutilleux's now very popular Ainsi la nuit to a high pitch of refinement; totally secure in harmonics and pianissimo. In Horowitz's quartet for the Amadeus Quartet (1969) they had an opportunity to show that they are equally at home in high romanticism."
"It was the young Carducci String Quartet that gave an impressive Ainsi. The Carducci won the 2004 Finland International Chamber Music competition in Kuhmo and this is indeed an impressive ensemble. The opening 'Nocturne' of Ainsi was characterized by real beauty of sound and a lyric undercurrent that went on to underpin the entire performance. More, they understood Dutilleux' world very well indeed, clearly enjoying the more veiled sections as well as the more angular, even angry ones. The London premiere of Kurtág's Six Moments musicaux, Op. 44 of 2005 preceded this, proving perfect in its own right. Kurtág's micro-world is endlessly fascinating, and these six pieces emerged as six little jewels. Interestingly, the composer marks the fourth piece ('In memoriam Gyorgy Sebok) to be played 'as if from another world', an instruction that could easily apply to several other movements, particularly the harmonic-prevaded fifth ('Rappel des oiseaux'). The Carducci Quartet really can make tiny fragments speak volumes."
"The excellent Carducci String Quartet..."
"In PLG’s 50th-anniversary season, this latest ‘week’ could not have got off to a better start. The Carducci String Quartet gave a very impressive recital, the four musicians each articulate and influential and unanimous and equable. Two elder-statesmen composers were heard first, György Kurtág, 80 this year, and Henri Dutilleux, 90; both men are masters of exquisite perfectionism, the Carducci equally masterly of dynamics, colour and texture...The Carducci Quartet left a big impression, a group that will no doubt grace London’s recital rooms on numerous future occasions."
"...the best of the nation's young professional talent...the Carducci String Quartet included Dutilleux's evocative Ainsi la nuit and Gordon's new, well-imagined Three Short Pieces in their early evening recital, along with Joseph Horovitz's fifth quartet. The playing was alive and carefully nuanced in all these pieces and in Kurtag's 6 exquisite Moments musicaux, op.44, music where not a sound is superfluous."
"They have the gift of imparting enthusiasm to the
audience, so essential for good chamber music
performances."
"..The programme began with a stylish account of
Haydn's Quartet op.20/4, full of life and
energy....the sonority was attractively warm and rich
with lots of subtle dovetailing. The ensemble was also
superbly coordinated in the minuet and trio and
bristling finale...."
"Although I have heard many performances and by
distinguished quartets, I have never heard a finer one
than the Carducci's"
"What an outstanding achievement to get inside the
skin of three such different masterpieces and play
them all to perfection. Judging by this performance it
ranks among the finest I have heard in Pitville Pump
Room in the past 30 years"
"All four members have a great musical and technical gift. It is a
beautifully balanced quartet"
"..the Quartet's musicianship, technical ability and
maturity provided the perfect platform to mark the
association's celebrations."
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