An Imaginative Approach

Highly sensitive and nuanced performances from The Szymanowski Quartet.

Composer: Haydn, Bacewicz, Dvořák
Repertoire: String Quartets
Artists: The Szymanowski Quartet

Rating: 4/5

Genre: Instrumental

Label: Avie AV2092

This quartet, formed in 1995, brings together four young Polish musicians who complement each other beautifully. Their approach inclines towards the romantic and free (that’s a recommendation, by the way), focusing on nuance and atmosphere, but also vigorous and earthy when occasion requires. Their Haydn Op.54/2 is relaxed, spacious and sensitive, the Dvořák  Quartet No.14 deliciously passionate. But the chief gem is the Quartet No.4 by Grazyna Bacewicz, a Polish-Lithuanian composer of the first half of the 20th century: immensely imaginative music that draws colour from the four instruments worthy of a whole orchestra.