Photographs of Dmitri Shostakovich invariably show a face of gloom. Yet Soviet Russia's greatest composer had a wild side. He possessed a sharp ear for torch songs and jazz. He spun circus tunes into ...

The string quartets by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel not only rank among the most recorded string quartets, they are most often found together on the same recording. Debussy composed his quartet in ...

This evergreen pairing – Debussy and Ravel wrote one quartet each – repays subtlety and restraint, and that is what we get from the Dantes, one of the UK’s finest quartets. They find all manner of ...

In the analogue era, the single string quartets by Debussy and Ravel, composed in 1893 and 1903 respectively, were an obvious and common combination, comfortably filling one LP. These days, however, ...

Kinderszenen, Movements: Von fremden Ländern und Menschen Brodsky Quartet Robert Schumann, Composer Philip Fisher, Piano Kinderszenen, Movements: Curiose Geschichte Brodsky Quartet Philip Fisher, ...

Ok, I exaggerate. But not all that much: Circa’s performers are so impressive, they do appear to defy nature. Olympic gymnasts, contemporary ballerinas, and experienced yogis all possess analogous ...

Simply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox. Debussy’s unmistakably Gallic quartet is usually paired with Ravel’s. Here we hear it alongside lesser-known chamber ...

The polished, intelligent music-making of the Tokyo players provides wonderfully alive, full-bodied readings of the two greatest essays in string quartet form by French composers. Slow movements are ...

The Belcea Quartet first recorded Debussy’s only composition in the medium 25 years ago for their debut album. This piece – recorded with the Belcea’s new second violinist Suyeong Kang – opens the ...

Written 10 years apart, Ravel and Debussy’s quartets are often compared. Indeed, Ravel greatly admired Debussy’s quartet and sought to produce a work equal to that of his elder colleague. He ended up ...