26.2.2012 6pm SNAPE, SUFFOLK Britten Studio, Snape Maltings PRESS The Solstice Quartet produced vivid readings of the two Janacek string quartets: Jamie Campbell introduced the two works with flair, and displayed great zest throughout. In 'Kreutzer Sonata' (the First String Quartet), the players brought out its proto-Mahlerian irony, and highlighted the contrasts with the more-radical Jenůfa-like idiom. The Second Quartet (Intimate Letters) was imbued with passion and expressive playing. Here the Solstice players' timbres were most effectively integrated: they were alert to the Czech rhythms and Janáček’s individual harmonic style, with ravishing playing by all – Meghan Cassidy’s yearning viola solos, second violinist Helena Nicholls’s impressionistic ostinato strands, and Gregor Riddell’s more discrete and blended cello line. There was fervent intensity in the Moderato third movement, whilst the impassioned mood was sustained to the last in a finale spiced with arresting harmonics and ponticello effects. Malcolm Miller, Musical Opinion - The Forge, Camden, 4th February 2011 Violinists Matthew Trusler and Maya Koch, violist Krzysztof Chorzelski and cellist Natalie Clein were joined by the young Solstice Quartet, whose players are all in their mid-twenties and are certainly headed for the same dizzy heights as their colleagues. Bachtrack.com - Cadogan Hall, 1st December 2010 'Technically these players were superb, and their ensemble sound well judged.' The Strad - Purcell Room, 1st April 2010 The Solstice Quartet covered itself with glory in the wonderful Barber String Quartet. The performance of the Adagio grew to a climax of heart wrenching intensity and the ending was powerful and decisive. This is a quartet to look out for. Musicweb-international.com - Wigmore Hall, London, 15.3.2010, 30th March 2010 'The Solstice Quartet shone in Barber's quartet.' The Telegraph - Purcell Room, 13th January 2010 '...an intensity that was hard to resist.' London Evening Standard - Purcell Room, 11th January 2010 The Solstice, winners of this year's Royal Over-Seas League competition, also brought considerable conviction to Graham Ross's new Quartet No 1, premiered in Suffolk two weeks earlier... Not only was Ross's material effectively characterised, but the transitions from one mode to the other were seamlessly achieved. The Guardian - Vale of Glamorgan Festival, 9th September 2009 The Solstice String Quartet gave an outstanding Young Artists recital and performed with great intensity and passion, captivating the audience. Newbury Today - Newbury Spring Festival, 20th May 2009 'But there were several concerts where you felt the musicians had really 'arrived'. The Solstice String Quartet achieved a haunted stillness in Kurtag's Microludes that I haven't heard bettered by hardened new-music professionals.' The Telegraph - PLG Purcell Room, 9th January 2009 'The Solstice String Quartet is in a different class, and brought the proceedings to an end impressively. The first of Ligeti's quartets is the more infrequently played, and this group made a strong case for it, with impeccable ensemble and tonal variety. The tiny Kurtag Microludes (twelve miniatures in nine minutes) were Webernesque gestures; minimalist but each making its economical point surely. Cutler's Folk Music was a welcome upbeat finisher.' Musical Pointers - PLG Purcell Room, 9th January 2009 ‘The other piece in the first half of the concert was the first Ligeti quartet, composed in 1953-54 under the title 'Métamorphoses nocturnes’. The version that gave us the Solstice Quartet was exemplary. With Jamie Campbell and Nicholas Shardlow, violins, Meghan Cassidy, viola and Gregor Riddell, violoncello, we enjoyed the music. This group, which has only existed for a few years, is very promising indeed. We are fortunate to have had them here in Madrid.’ Mundoclasico - Sony Auditorium, Madrid, 1st December 2008