Wigmore Hall

Complete CD Track Listing

CONLON NANCARROW
String Quartet No. 3
01 First movement [2.36]
02 Second movement [5.44]
03 Third movement [6.19]

GYÖRGY LIGETI
String Quartet No. 2
04 Allegro nervosa [4.59]
05 Sostenuto, molto calmo [4.12]
06 Come un meccanismo di precisione [3.04]
07 Presto furioso, brutale, tumultuoso [2.02]
08 Allegro con delicatezza [5.55]

HENRI DUTILLEUX
String Quartet 'Ainsi la nuit'
09 Introduction [0.35]
10 I Nocturne [2.56]
11 Parenthèse [1 0.24]
12 II Miroir d'espace [1.47]
13 Parenthèse 2 [0.29]
14 III Litanies [2.22]
15 Parenthèse 3 [0.40]
16 IV Litanies 2 [3.03]
17 Parenthèse 4 [0.26]
18 V Constellations [1.55]
19 VI Nocturne 2 [0.56]
20 VII Temps suspendu [3.18]

Total Time: 53.46

Further Information

“Nancarrow’s third string quartet demands and receives astonishing virtuosity, but it is almost child’s play compared with Ligeti’s second quartet, in which the sheer magic of the sounds is enthralling” Sunday Telegraph

“The Arditti Quartet displays astonishing precision and sensitivity in Conlon Nancarrow’s late Third Quartet with its cunningly geared canons, Ligeti’s fantastically varied Second Quartet, and Dutilleux’s atmospheric Ainsi la nuit” BBC Music Magazine

“Witness this splendid live CD of the best specialist string group in the business, the Arditti Quartet … I’ve never heard these ear-stretching pieces performed with the passion, commitment and sheer beauty of sound that the Arditti’s manage here. No wonder the audience is so quiet: they’re hanging on” The Times

“The Arditti Quartet’s disc is, for me, the pick of the bunch on the new Wigmore Hall label. As soon as they begin their hazardous journey through the convulsive canons of Nancarrow’s Quartet No. 3, two things are apparent: first, that warm yet clear acoustic, beautifully captured, positively invites us to engage; second, the performance is brilliant, alive and spontaneous” The Sunday Times