Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit FLAC, Evidence Classics (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

With a Bartók cycle to come, the Lyon-based string quartet has already recorded all of Shostakovich’s string quartets for Arion. The music here – the ‘Élégie’ Adagio a transcription from Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk – is their programme ‘Opus’ (ordered as listed above) an ‘acrobatic waltz’ [sic] which they have been giving with Australian performance group C!RCA; the Internet has video clips. They play with compelling concentration, certainly bringing out all of the rawness of the epic No 8, with its ‘DSCH’ quotations. And you might need to turn the level down, as they are recorded rather as the Juilliards were by CBS, each player seemingly with his own mic. The PDF notes favour the Quartet over the music itself (and the French to English translations are approximate) and there are no Temple Lanterne session photos. CB

Sound Quality: 85%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

The energetic playing of this string quartet is illustrated by trk 10 [Allegro Molto, see Graph above] with pulses of harmonics reaching out to ~30kHz. Dynamic range is good and with peaks limited to –3dBFs, no compression. PM