Quatuor Diotima BÉLA BARTÓK Intégrale des quatuors à cordes

The Bartók string quartet cycle has been a career rite for quartets since the 1960s, and you can find any number of sets on the market by famed ensembles. There is quite a variety, from very sober, classical readings that emphasize the polyphony and take a very elevated tone (works well in the final String Quartet No. 6, on the dawn of war, where each movement is marked "Mesto," sad), to those that emphasize Bartók the folk music collector. France's Quatuor Diotima come up with often original readings that stand up to those of more famous groups. There are commonalities among the Bartók quartets, but Quatuor Diotima treat each one as an individual and play up the ways in which the composer responded to what was going on around him stylistically. The String Quartet No. 1 shows how Bartók emerged from an essentially French context, and the next three quartets get slashing, intense readings that derive from an Expressionist environment. Bartók's late return to Classical forms draws from Quatuor Diotima a Beethovenian tone. Sample the finale of the String Quartet No. 5, which is one of the most exciting readings out there. In general, you might disagree with a thing or two here, but "exciting" is a good general word. Naïve delivers ideal sound from the Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal in Cologne. (James Manheim)

Kim Kashkashian / Till Felner / Quatuor Diotima THOMAS LARCHER Madhares

The creative output of Austrian composer (and pianist) Thomas Larcher (born 1963) whom the London Times recently called “a musical talent of unbounded sensitivity and distinction bound for 21st- century glory” has been championed on ECM New Series since 2001. Last fall Larcher’s piano piece “What becomes” attracted wide-spread attention when premiered on Leif Ove Andsnes’ international tour with the project “Pictures, Reframed” in which musical performances were juxtaposed with video images by concept artist Robin Rhode. In the Daily Telegraph Ivan Hewett spoke of “a real 21st- century picture of childhood, rudely energetic and unsentimental”. “Madhares”, the third release dedicated exclusively to Larcher’s works, assembles some of the finest ECM musicians such as Kim Kashkashian, Till Fellner and the Munich Chamber Orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies to present a gripping cross-section of Larcher’s recent orchestral output, enhanced by the third string quartet “Madhares” which is played by the youthful French Quatuor Diotima. Larcher’s recent pieces are marked by intense sonic imagination, great rhythmic energy and a virtuoso impact that makes for an immediately rewarding listening. In the upcoming months his music will be performed in musical centers such as Amsterdam, London, Heimbach chamber music festival (composer in residence) and many more.