Press quotes/articles 2013

March 24, 2013 by arcadia in Press quotes
December 2013
BBC Music Magazine, Christmas Issue 2013 ***
“Not only do both Quartets set formidable technical challenges, they require astonishing emotional commitment and dramatic timing…the Romanian Arcadia Quartet certainly have the measure of the dramatic aspects of these remarkable works.”
30 November 2013
Northumberland Gazette
Celebrations of a pastoral theme
“If the word Arcadia stands as a symbol for beauty, the playing of the Arcadia String Quartet certainly lived up to the expectations of its name.
Technically immaculate, the four-player ensemble, wide dynamics, beauty of tone and commitment to give of their very best, impressed a good audience at the Playhouse on November 12.”
Martin Gillham
18 November 2013
Aberdeen Chamber Music Concerts in association with sound 2013
The Arcadia Quartet
“The breathtaking brilliance of their playing was evident from the very start of their performance.”
Alan Cooper
13 November 2013
The Listenier
Catalog index: ORC100036 / EAN: 5060189560363
“Whoever is looking for a new reference recording should consider this one. (…) For me, the Arcadia Quartet is – at least concerning Janáček – the cutting edge currently among European interpreters……Outstanding!'”
Rainer Aschemeier
16 November 2013
www.theartsdesk.com
Classical CDs Weekly: Brahms, Janáček, John Harle
Late romantic symphonies, emotive string quartets and paintings reflected through music
Janáček: String Quartets Arcadia Quartet (Orchid Classics)
“I still listen to a beloved, crackly, Supraphon LP of these pieces made by the Janáček Quartet in the early 1960s. Comparing their vintage readings with newer performances is always difficult; their mellow, consolatory approach can sound under-characterised when compared to many contemporary performances. This new recording by the young Arcadia Quartet handsomely exemplifies this modern trend – and on its own terms it’s pretty impressive.
These two quartets are magnificently peculiar works, still sounding like nothing else in the chamber repertoire. Ideas flare up without warning and then disappear. Violent, visceral outbursts abruptly melt into fruity cadences. Snatches of folk melody dissolve into snatches of quasi-operatic dialogue. The tunes, such as they are, are glorious; there’s stomping, earthy theme at the start of the Second Quartet’s finale which is catchy beyond belief. This work, inspired by Janáček’s unrequited love for Kamila Stösslová, was premiered just weeks after the composer’s death, and the Arcadia Quartet manage the ecstacy beautifully. The stratospheric first violin line in the third movement’s dance section is phenomenal here. You feel that you’re eavesdropping on something very private. The finale’s exultant, screeching close leaves you feeling, rightly, exhausted.
The darker first quartet, loosely inspired by Tolstoy’s short story The Kreutzer Sonata, is more emotionally ambiguous. I like the Arcadia’s shadowy opening, and there’s a bone-chilling passage in the third movement where a pallid cello and viola canon is sabotaged by screaming sul ponticello effects in the upper strings. The whole work lasts just 17 minutes, but this performance feels much weightier. If you don’t know these pieces, the Arcadia Quartet offer an ideal starting point. Close-up, dryish sound adds to the visceral impact.”
Graham Rickson
12 November 2013
Eastern Daily Press
“On the strength of this recital alone, the Arcadia must be one of the finest young quartets around, and judging by the rapturous reception they received, the audience agreed.”
Frank Cliff
1 November 2013
Gramophone Magazine, page 63-64
Young Romanians record Janáček’s two quartets
“They are not afraid to take matters to the extremes which Janáček invites […] … a bold but thoughtful performance of the two remarkable works. They are strenuous performances…The recording is vivid and immediate.”
John Warrack
29 September 2013
The Sunday Times
“Each fresh hearing of Janacek’s quartets is a shock — as if his researches into what he called “the melody of speech” resulted in a totally new kind of music…Both works are played with searing intensity by the fine young Romanian quartet.”
David Cairns
30 June 2013
Pamela Hickman’s concert critique blog
http://pamelahickmansblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-arcadia-string-quartet-at-israel.html?m=0
The Arcadia String Quartet at the Israel Conservatory of Music 
“[…] The Arcadia Quartet bases its performance on deep enquiry into each work, on intelligent, objective reading of each text and good taste. The players’ fine technical know-how serves their oneness of intention in performance that is genuine, sincere and beautifully shaped.”
Pamela Hickman
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