Schumann - Piano Quintet in E flat, String Quartet in A minor, etc

"The Schidlof Quartet gives a warm and spacious account ... highly enjoyable"
BBC Music Magazine

"Unashamedly expressive yet alert accounts of two major Schumann chamber works."
Gramophone Magazine November 2001


"The Schidlof Quartet's lively rapport with pianist Bernard d'Ascoli is instantly evident in this ripe and glowing account of Schumann's substantial E flat Piano Quintet, Op44. The rhythmic vitality of the outer movements is matched by the lightly flowing slow movement and impetuous scherzo. Between that and an equally radiant performance of the A minor string quartet, d'Ascoli plays two short piano pieces, the neatly paired Arabesque, Op18, and Blumenstuck, Op19."
The Scotsman

Now in its sixth season, the Schidlof Quartet has been heralded by the Daily Telegraph as "one of the most accomplished to have emerged in the past decade". The London Evening Standard has written, "there is a permanence about their presence and an authority in their music". Named in memory of Peter Schidlof, the distinguished viola player, its members come from Canada, Israel and England.

The Shidlof Quartet's UK concerts have included appearances at most major venues including the Wigmore Hall (five sold-out performances), the Purcell Room and Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Festival visits have included Dartington International Summer School, Harrogate International, Spitalfields, Warwick & Leamington, Kings Lynn, Newbury Spring and the Norfolk & Norwich Festival where the Schidlof has been appointed Associate Quartet, the first association of its kind. The Quartet has often worked in conjunction with The British Council, and touring engagements have included the Czech Republic for the Prague International String Quartet Festival, Italy for Festival RomaEuropa and Bulgaria for the International Chamber Music festivals, where it gave the Bulgarian premiere of Britten's Quartet No.3. The Quartet continues to perform quintets with guest artists of the highest calibre, including Lars Anders Tomter, Martin Roscoe, Nicholas Daniel and Bernard d'Ascoli. In 1998 the ensemble was invited to appear in a special Mozart recital at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with Murray Perahia. forthcoming highlights include a return to the Wigmore Hall, a first visit to the Prague Spring Festival and appearances in a major Shostakovich/Haydn cycle at the Turner Sims Hall, Southampton. The Quartet makes its debut USA tour in Autumn 1999, with appearances at major venues in New York, Washington and Los Angeles.

As Quartet in Residence at de Montfort University, the Schidlof presents highly acclaimed series in Leicester and Lincoln campuses. Through its commitment to music education and the future of audiences for chamber music, it has also undertaken a National Education Programme for the London String Quartet Foundation. over the past four years the Quartet has played for 25,000 young people of various age ranges, ability levels and backgrounds. The Quartet has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, Bulgarian National Television and Radio and Israel Radio, and has embarked on a series of recordings for Linn Records. Its CD of Shostakovich was recommended in Critic's Choice of the Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph, and was selected in BBC Music Magazine Critic's Choice. Its Dvorak recording, released in 1999, has received a five-star review from Classic CD