Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | English | String Quartet in F major

Don Quixote provides the inspiration for songs by Ravel and Ibert, the high point of a bitty programme in contrast to an early evening recital which followed the perfect trajectory.

Contrasting Gounod, Mozart and Ravel works were combined into an exhilarating package of technical virtuosity and musical finesse.

Garth Newel's “Classic Masterpieces” weekend concludes with masterful Mozart, remarkable Ravel and a Héritte-Viardot number that's a hoot-and-a-half.

The second half was all about Ravel and Adrian Brendel.

Listening to Stravinsky, Ravel and Dvořák in one evening is a treat, but watching the Pavel Haas Quartet playing them is delicious. 

Emmanuel Pahud shows his fluting chops in a program accompanied by the popular and celebrated Australian Chamber Orchestra.

The programme ended with a sense of affirmation that shouted "that's how the Ravel quartet should go!"

Since its formation four years ago, the young ensemble Quatuor Van Kuijk has been bagging numerous competition prizes and accumulating international acclaim.

Brodsky String Quartet: A master of precision, nuances and moods introduced the Turkish audience to South American contemporary composers. What an enchantment!

The Emerson String Quartet played Haydn with poised humour, and brought warmth and strength to Ravel.  Their Beethoven had sadness, rage, violence and profound depth. 

The International Chamber Music Festival offered a cycling tour along some of the finest buildings in Utrecht, where music was performed in this special setting.

The Wihan Quartet was formed in 1985 in Czechoslovakia. Since then they have developed an impressive international career, often visiting the UK and being broadcast on its airwaves. Among their achievements is a published recording of Dvořák’s String Quartet no. 11, and it was this recording, not their continued and celebrated presence in the UK, that first brought them to my attention.

Previously, for me, the term “Chamber Orchestra” has meant an ordinary orchestra, only smaller: apart from the sound being somewhat thinned out and consequently cleaner, I don't expect a fundamentally different experience. Or, didn't, that is, until last night at Cadogan Hall, where I saw the Australian Chamber Orchestra for the first time.

A full house at St George’s was spoilt with some seriously fantastic music in this concert. String quartets don’t come much better than the Takács Quartet. Versatile, passionate, and technically very accurate, there was a real quality of care that went into their performance.

Opening the concert season at Leiden’s Stadsgehoorzaal was a beautiful concert of chamber music by two talented young string quartets: the Finzi Quartet and Quatuor Byron. On the program were string quartets by Haydn, Ravel and Shostakovich – an eclectic mix that turned out rather well. The absolute highlight of the evening was Shostakovich’s String Quartet No.