Arcadia Quartet

Now well established on the international chamber music scene, this young Romanian ensemble came together in 2005 and won both the 2012 London String Quartet Competition and the 2014 competition in Osaka.   They played Bartók's fourth quartet for us in 2015, since when they have recorded all six of his quartets for Chandos in performances characterised by the Gramophone magazine reviewer:  'If I was asked to recommend a Bartók cycle to a first-time listener intimidated by his spiky reputation, I’d send them straight to the Arcadia Quartet. Even for the aficionado, this spacious, big-hearted vision of Bartók as poet, dreamer and humourist has something distinctive and beautiful to say'. Bartók's final quartet, the least 'spiky' and most reflective of the six, will respond especially to this approach.