Caroline Baird ArtistsPinkhill House
Oxford Road, Eynsham
Oxfordshire OX29 4DA
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e: caroline@cbartists.sol.co.uk
Caroline Baird ArtistsThe Chilingirian Quartet have had so many superlative reviews that it would be impossible to list them all. Instead, below is a small selection of their most recent reviews from concerts and recordings, proving that, as the above review states, "they remain giants in their field".
Washington, DC 2003/4 season:
"As part of its annual North American tour, the London-based Chilingirian String Quartet performed with rhythmic precision and remarkable dynamic control at the Library of Congress' s Coolidge Auditorium on Tuesday evening.
The quartet gave a good, though somewhat contrived, reading of Mozart's String Quartet in C K 465 ("The Dissonance"), a work that is famous for its discordant harmonies, while also playing homage to Haydn. Rather than shy away from the dissonance, the group swelled the dynamics to enunciate these clashes. First violinist Levon Chilingirian navigated easily through the runs, while the group's co-founder, cellist Philip de Groote, supported with a lovely, string-bass-like sound.
The "Dissonance" prepared ears for Bela Bartok's String Quartet No 5, which premiered in 1935 on this very stage. In a commanding performance, the Chilingirian players charged into Bartok's rhythmic chaos, sometimes atmospheric, often pulsing and organic. Here, the quartet's playing had spooky and suspenseful cinematic quality. Even amid the cacophony, the musicians took great care to display the fleeting melodic motifs often embedded within the work's intricate layers.
Dvorak's String Quartet in G Op 106, was a breath of fresh air, expertly molded by all four instrumentalists. The second movement was especially fine: second violinist Charles Sewart sparkled, while violist Susie Meszaros' gorgeous tone paired with Chilingirian's for a pretty melody above an undulating cello and pizzicato violin."
Washington Post
Tampere Hall, Finland , February 2003
THE CHILINGIRIAN GAVE US PURE, PURE MUSIC
" ...Few can achieve the musical maturity and compelling expression of the Chilingirian Quartet. The group members work in true harmony with each other, concentrating solely on the needs of the music itself. The music is thus pure, fresh and honest, free of all mannerisms and excessive details.
Whereas many young quartets all too often resort to the use of excessive speed and frenzied bowing, the Chilingirian Quartet proved that more can be achieved with less. The knack is not in the frenzy and volume of playing, but rather in the naturalness of phrasing, the inner discourse of the music and in the delicate art of understanding the nuances.
An admirable example of the power of small gestures can be seen in the Chilingirian's cellist, who neither makes unnecessary flowery gestures nor wastes his energy in a single excessive stroke. Behind an unassuming front, he nevertheless achieves a precision and pithiness in which superb timing and sense of style rejoice.
The cooperation between De Groote and Levon Chilingirian, the co-founder of the quartet, was a real joy to watch. The temperamental Chilingirian and cool-as-a-cucumber De Groote balanced each other perfectly."
Aamulehti / 7 February 2003
On tour in Germany, February 2000: Grieg String Quartet No 2 (unfinished); Smetana 'From my Life' and Shostakovich's last Quartet, No 15
"The Chilingirian Quartet took its leave from the audience of the Darmstadt State Theatre with a delicate encore; the Andante Cantabile from Mozart's Dissonance Quartet. They played it with supreme elegance, a quality which had also been in evidence earlier in the programme, which presented us with a range of expression in the late works of Grieg, Smetana and Shostakovich. The musicians' playing was dry rather than exuberant, which enabled them to lay bare with cristalline clarity the structure and sound-world of these works.
The opening work, Grieg's Quartet in F major, remains incomplete. The Quartet played Levon Chilingirian's own revised edition which was premiered at the 1999 Bergen Festival. The music stops short half-way through the fourth movement, emphasising the fragmentary nature of the composition.
Smetana's first quartet "From my Life", - like the Grieg - whisks the listener off to the composer's native land right from the first few bars. Smetana's programmatic writing in this work looks back over his life; although it was composed in difficult times, all four movements emanate a defiant joie de vivre.
The Chilingirian Quartet's sober approach does the music good. They never lapse into over-indulgence or folksiness. Before Smetana's final confession ends with three soft chords, the final movement swings between triumph and desperation.
The chamber music prose of Grieg and Smetana was followed, after the break, with a work full of bitter poetry. Dimitri Shostakovich wrote his last work for string quartet over 6 slow movements in 1974. It progresses from slow tempi that can be agonising, through melancholy and grief. This thirty-minute work, played without a break, is strangely lacking in any bitter aftertaste, it is too intelligently written for that.
The Chilingirian Quartet played this work with such subtle nuances and made such an impression with their interplay, that this work was met with astonishment and deep reflection. Every note was given due weight and made to resound long afterwards. This was breathtaking chamber music given a thrilling interpretation."
"fein nuanciert und in so eindringlichem Wechselspiel musiziert wie vom Chilingirian-Quartet vermittelt das Werk Staunen und Besinnung. Jeden Ton drehen die vier um und um, jeder Wendung wird klangsicher nachgespürt. Ein atemberaubendes Stück Kammermusik in einer packenden Interpretation."
Frankfurter Rundschau, February 2000
As mentioned in the above review from their concert in Darmstadt, Germany, Levon Chilingirian has his own edition of Grieg's second string quartet which was left unfinished and the Quartet have recorded this, together with the well-known G minor quartet. [Note: 2007 will be the centenary of Grieg's death]
Grieg : Quartet No 1 in G minor, Quartet No 2 in F (unfinished) Hyperion
CDA 67117
"The G minor Quartet is one of Grieg's most deeply felt pieces and the Chilingirian has its measure. If it gave Grieg a lot of trouble, the F major gave him even more. Two movements were completed (and the second is first-rate in every way) but in the 16 years that elapsed between them and his death he was never satisfied with the inspiration that came to him, The sketches for the remaining two were put into shape by Julius Röntgen after his death. Levon Chilingirian has taken great trouble over the score, returning to Grieg's original sketches - and turning to all the right authorities. The Raphael Quartet (Olympia) gives us Röntgen's conjectural completion. The Chilingirian, on the other hand, leaves off where Grieg did. They are unfailingly alive and intelligent and have a complete dedication and freshness that is wholly persuasive in both scores."
BBC Music Magazine / December 1999
"It's a great shame that Grieg never finished his Second Quartet. The two completed movements, dating from 1891, have all the composer's usual fertile invention and harmonic richness. The special feature of this CD is that the Chilingirian Quartet has gone back to the autograph manuscript of this quartet, not just to correct errors in the printed score, but to provide performing versions of the fragmentary third and fourth movements. So for the first time we can get some idea of what the completed quartet would have been like.
A strong recommendation, for the high-class playing and recording, even without the bonus of the more complete Second Quartet."
The Gramophone / December 1999
Currently recording for the UK's top independent record labels, Hyperion and Chandos, the Chilingirian's extensive discography includes the Bartok and Dvorak cycles. Recent releases include a 4 CD series of Chausson works, and a 3 CD set of string quartets of Sir John Blackwood McEwen as well as an award-winning disc of piano quintets by Renaldo Hahn and Louis Vierne. Below are some reviews of their most recent recordings:
Chausson Quartet and D'Indy Quartet No 1 (Hyperion CDA 67097)
...This superb disc is a revelation...
"Prompted by César Franck in 1889, French composers wrote a series of fine string quartets, of which only Debussy's and Ravel's are still performed. This superb disc is a revelation. The Chausson, completed by Vincent d'Indy after the composer's death, has echoes of his teacher, Franck, touched in with point and elegance. The Quartet No 1 of d'Indy is even more striking, often reminiscent of Beethoven. A powerful first movement leads to an ecstatic slow movement, an elegant interlude and an exuberant finale."
The Guardian / 11 Aug 2000
Les Chilingirian signent là un de leurs plus beaux disques "Voici un disque à marquer d'une pierre blanche. Surtout, l'interprétation des Chilingirian, par sa justesse et son ampleur, fait de ce quatuor une véritable révélation: l'oeuvre est magistralement bâtie, équilibrée, proportionnéee, construite, mais aussi d'une remarquable richesse de pensée[.] Les Chilingirian signent là un de leurs plus beaux disques, se hissant sans effort apparent au degré d'exigence de ces pages superbes et encore trop mal connues.."
Diapason / Sept 2000
Here is a disc to chalk up. Above all it is the interpretation of the Chilingirian Quartet - their accuracy and style - that makes this work a revelation (D'Indy's Quartet No 1). It is a masterful composition, superbly balanced and constructed but with a richness of thought. This must count as one of the Chilingirians finest recordings, effortlessly mastering the technical demands if this superb and unjustly neglected work.
Hahn Piano Quintet in F# minor / Vierne Piano Quintet in C minor Op 42 (Hyperion CDA 67258)
"Both works are in a minor key, but Hahn's F sharp minor is a relatively bright and breezy affair compared with the soul-searching of Vierne's C minor, a dark and troubled tonality reflecting the composer's grief at the death of his son. The quintet is conceived on a big scale, with traces of Franck and Fauré in its outline and harmonic fabric, and with its elegiac quality voiced through a combination of angst and reflectiveness.
Hahn, the tender lyricist with the outgoing personality, shines through his own quintet. The fine performances make the distinction trenchantly and with artistic flair."
The Telegraph, February 2002
The Chilingirian have recorded ten of the nineteen string quartets of Scottish composer Sir John Blackwood McEwen (1868-1948). Here are a selection of their reviews. The McEwen quartets programme exceptionally well with both Debussy and Dvorak:
"The 4th Quartet is an amalgam of Beethoven, the fantasy of Schumann and the rich panoply of Cesar Franck. It's a lovely work of aching lyricism and high spirits which has a distinctive flavour all its own. The performances are wonderfully committed and excellently recorded. The beginning go any important series.
classicalsource.com
".. A revealing series, given exemplary première recordings. The
Chilingirian Quartet does McEwen proud ...a hearty recommendation."
The
Gramophone, Oct 2003
"The Chilingirians play marvellously. This will reward anyone wanting to
discover more of the treasures hidden away in our rich heritage of
little-known late-romantic-to-early-modern strings quartets."
American Record Guide
"The rhythm is excellent and the Chilingirians have a real cocksure
ebullient swagger. they really do bring life and joyous affirmation to this music."
Music Web / July 2003
"...Scottish folk-songs and the French musical impressionists - influences fused into music of haunting beauty, cogent expression and some harmonic daring." CHAN 10182 follows two other McEwen discs by the excellent Chilingirian Quartet: they sink themselves into McEwen's idiom the way others might sink into a foam-filled bath. And with equally pleasurable results."
The Times, 26 March 2004