ARTHUR BLISS, STRING QUARTET NO. 2

1. I Allegro con spirito 9.32

2. II Sostenuto 5.19

3. III Vivo e con brio 6.01

4. IV Larghetto - Allegro 10.39

FREDERICK DELIUS

5. Late Swallows 9.28

HENRY PURCELL

6. Chacony 6.44

BENJAMIN BRITTEN, STRING QUARTET NO. 2 IN C

7. I Allegro calmo, senza rigore 8.31

8. II Vivace 3.37

9. III Chacony: Sostenuto 18.06

Barbirolli Quartet:

Rakhi Singh, Violin

Katie Stillman, Violin

Ella Brinch, Viola

Ashok Klouda, Cello

Following their selection by the European Concert Halls Organisation (ECHO) as the UK Concert Halls’ nominated ‘Rising Stars’ 2009, the Barbirolli Quartet has toured the major concert halls of Europe, and holds an international reputation for its diverse, prolific repertoire and dynamic approach to performance.

The Times has described them as “forthright, fullblooded musicians, afraid of nothing” and The Strad hailed their “superbly realised performance” and “precision of ensemble at formidable rates of energy”. The quartet performs at major venues throught the UK which as the Wigmore Hall, the Purcell room, Kings Place, St. David’s Hall, Cardiff and Bridgewater Hall.

Through the support of the Royal Over-Seas League they toured Singapore, New Zealand and Australia in 2009, giving concerts and adjudicating the Pettman/ROSL Arts International Scholarship.

Formed in 2003 at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, the quartets has also undertaken a chamber Music fellowship at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and a Leverhulme Chamber Music fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music. For this recording they were kindly loaned a set of fine Italian instruments from the Royal Academy, comprising of two Guadagnini violins, a Ceruti Viola and the 1692 ‘Segelman’ Stradivarius cello.

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