New Music String Quartet

…The great F-Major Quartet, op. 59/1, is a highlight on the Virgin set: the Borodins take a lyrical, symphonic view with moderate tempos throughout the opening movement. Sforzandos and accents are never harsh; the dolce moments have memorable sweetness. In the Allegretto vivace, the Russian quartet realizes this somewhat unusual tempo marking without artifice or exaggeration, as 16th notes nimbly chase each other around the ensemble, perfectly matched and effortless…. Michael Fine, FANFARE

A compilation of quartets by Schumann, Shostakovich and Caroline Shaw from the acclaimed American string quartet, Calidore String Quartet, exploring the visceral forms of expression that exist at the intersection of music and language. For this recording the Calidore String Quartet gathered music which transmits ideas by imitating language; its rhythms, cadences and intentions. But it also explores what happens when music substitutes for language. When it fills the void of forbidden speech or even how it carries on when language has been exhausted.

A remake of a special kind. 2024 marks 150 years since the premiere of „Pictures at an Exhibition“. On this anniversary the quartet now presents an extraordinary and progressive interpretation of this timeless masterpiece by Mussorgsky, having always explored innovative possibilities to transform the different genres of classical music, The Modern String Quartet hereby exhibits pictures within the framework of a fascinating contemporary tonal language— so very abstract and modern. A crouched Gnomus scurries through the disharmonious paint blobs of a Jackson Pollock, Baba Jaga skitters through the wild, expressionistic brush strokes of a Wassily Kandinsky. New pictures are hung up, being uncompromising in expression and enhanced by unrestrained imagination.