Conway Hall March 2010It's tempting to ascribe the utter cohesion of the Carducci Quartet, its wonderful uniformity of tone and articulation, to the fact that the group is made up of two married couples. Violinist Matthew Denton leads with decisive elegance, but these players seem to breathe the music together. Mozart's String Quartet in D major k.499 set the standard for the concert. After a gambolling and brilliant Allegretto, the 'hocketing' texture at the beginning of the Minuetto was magical, and before the rallying finale, the players sank into a full-voiced and rich Adagio that was breathtakingly lovely.Anglo-Irish composer E.J. Moeran's Second Quartet made a rare appearance. The work is infused with the folksongs of Moeran's beloved County Kerry, and its lush textures often swelled to Ravellian richness, particularly under the empathic fingers of the Carducci players. Pianist Simon Callaghan then joined them for a deeply felt performance of Elgar's Piano Quintet in A minor op.84, in which bristling dramatic tension alternated with desolate melancholy. Callaghan's delicate pianism blended beautifully with the Carducci sound: a finely drawn finale to an inspiring concert. Catherine Nelson - The Strad Wigmore Hall Jan 2010Four years ago, the Carducci Quartet made a deep impression playing Dutilleux and Kurtág in the annual Park Lane Group young artists series. Since then, with residencies in Cork, Cardiff and at Trinity College of Music, their progress has been rapid, and their Wigmore recital suggested that the group is now very much the finished article – among the finest of the current exceptional crop of young British-based string quartets.The polish of the Carducci's playing was obvious in Haydn's E flat Quartet, Op 33 No 2, "The Joke" – the finely calibrated weight of tone, unselfconscious stylishness and a deliciously deadpan delivery of the false endings in the finale that give the work its nickname. But it was the performances of a far more hefty pair of works that really showed their maturity. Like all the chamber music Elgar composed in the last years of the first world war, the character of the Piano Quintet, with its hints of Spanish rhythms, occasional outbreaks of palm-court sentimentality and sinister moments of dread, is hard to pin down. But with pianist Charles Owen, the Carducci judged it perfectly, just as they tackled César Franck's only quartet with massive assurance. The Franck is a formidable work and – at more than 50 minutes – probably performed less often than it deserves. But, as the Carducci showed, it is one of the great monuments of late 19th-century chamber music. Andrew Clements - The Guardian - 20/01/10 Strongly and beautifully crafted works, full of an almost Tippett-like 'joie de vivre'. The 'Couperin Fantasia' is a coruscating treat. Excellent performances, too . BBC Music Magazine - June 2008 Purcell Room Concert reviews (9/1/06)Peter Quantrill - The Strad "...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 Guardian "The Carducci String Quartet astonished with their ability and maturity...and gave a fine performance of Kurtag's Moments Musicaux, the London premiere..." The Independent "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 Times "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." Musical Pointers "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." www.musicweb-international.com "The excellent Carducci String Quartet..." The Sunday Times "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." Colin Anderson www.classicalsource.com "...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." London Evening Standard Other ReviewsMusical Opinion "..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...." Malcolm Miller, Ensemble "Although I have heard many performances and by distinguished quartets, I have never heard a finer one than the Carducci's" Graham Whettam (String Quartet No.1) "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" Ronald Kay, Gloucestershire Echo "All four members have a great musical and technical gift. It is a beautifully balanced quartet" Sigmund Nissel, Amadeus Quartet "..the Quartet's musicianship, technical ability and maturity provided the perfect platform to mark the association's celebrations." Review of Mid Argyll Arts Association 21st anniversary concert in 2004 |