At first glance, some might be tempted to call it a successful “concept album.” However, such an idea must be firmly rejected; in the case of the Ardeo Quartet (“I burn”), this is no longer about a fashionable or trendy concept, but rather a profound exploration of the program’s dramaturgy in the depths of the music itself. With the brief yet enigmatic title “XIII” (13), the four performers connect the recorded works through a numerical mysticism that is as artful as it is deeply revealing (…).
Musically, everything is cast in an almost pale tone — often deliberately suspended, without vibrato, seemingly ungrounded, fragile in character — in which even the major third, very much in Schubert’s spirit, by no means signifies any kind of redemptive illumination. Thus, in the “Rosamunde” Quartet, a tragedy is born that, in its seemingly relaxed finale, can tighten the throat with a deeply unsettling intensity (…).
Michael Kube, HörBar Contemporary Music Magazine, #026, February 2021
Carole Petitdemange & Mi-Sa Yang, violins
Yuko Hara, viola
Joëlle Martinez, cello
If Ardeo – in Latin: I burn – is the name of this quartet, it is also the motto with which the four young women approach their repertoires; success proves them right. Formed in 2001 within the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, the Ardeo Quartet is today one of the most renowned French ensembles.
A perfect artistic understanding based on tireless work, a spirit of harmony and great complicity gives rise to a career crowned with several prizes at international competitions: Bordeaux, Moscow, the Premio Paolo Borciani in Bologna, as well as the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. Strongly inspired by musical figures such as Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet), Ferenc Rados or Eberhard Feltz in his studies, the Quartet regularly works with composers such as Kaija Saariaho, Thomas Larcher, Pascal Dusapin, François Meïmoun and Philippe Schoeller.
Their competition victories and the enthusiasm the young women arouse in public take the Ardeo Quartet to major stages and festivals in Europe: Kuhmo (FIN), Geneva Summer Festival, Stadtcasino Basel and Davos Festival (CH), Lockenhaus and Attersee (A), Musikfest Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Radialsystem in Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and Beethovenfest Bonn (GER), Ohrid Summer Festival (MAC), Palazzetto Bru Zane in Venice (IT), Aldeburgh (ENG)…
Named “Rising Stars”, the Ardeo quartet leads a concert tour in the most prestigious European halls: Philharmonies of Cologne, Paris and Luxembourg, Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, Palais des Beaux Arts of Brussels, Townhall of Birmingham, Konzerthaus of Vienna and Dortmund, Laeiszhalle of Hamburg, Konserthus of Stockholm, Megaron of Athens, Auditori of Barcelona, Casa da Musica of Porto, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian from Lisbon, Palace of Arts from Budapest, Barbican Center from London, Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden.
In France, they have been heard at the Cité de la Musique, the Musée d’Orsay, the Parisian theatres of Châtelet, Mogador and Bouffes du Nord, the Salle Cortot, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the National Assembly, the Orangerie de Sceaux, the Arsenal de Metz, the Vichy Opera as well as during the Radio France and Montpellier Festivals, the Folles Journées de Nantes as well as in the region and Japan, the Périgord Noir, the Flâneries de Reims, the Septembre musical de l’Orne, the Quatuor à l’Ouest de Crozon, Aspects d’aujourd’hui de Caen, the Nuits Romantiques du Lac du Bourget, Jacobins and Saint Pierre des Cuisines de Toulouse…
The Ardeo Quartet enjoys sharing the stage with artists such as Thomas Demenga, Noam Greenberg, Matan Porat, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Evgeny Koroliov, Mario Brunello, Luís Fernando Perez, David Kadouch, Aaron Pilsan and collaborates more closely with pianist Adam Laloum, percussionist Vassilena Serafimova and clarinetist Reto Bieri.
The quartet collaborates with the Orchestre National d’Île de France, the Musica Viva ensemble, the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música and conductors Julien Leroy, Alexander Rudin and Olari Elts on the occasion of the performance of John Adams’ concerto for orchestra Absolut Jest. In residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation from 2008 to 2016, the Ardeo Quartet also, from 2005 and for more than ten years, participated in the professional training and cultural activities of the ProQuartet association. Widely acclaimed by international and French critics, they made appearances on France Musique programs presented by Stéphane Goldet, Lionel Esparza, Frédéric Lodéon…
The Ardeo Quartet released its first recording in 2007 with the world premiere of Koechlin’s first two quartets. In collaboration with pianist David Kadouch, they released a recording dedicated to Shostakovich (Transart Live, 2010) and Schumann (Decca, 2011). With the help of the Palazzetto Bru Zane in Venice, the musicians recorded the world premiere of three quartets by Anton Reicha (Empreinte Digitale, 2014). A recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, transcribed by François Meïmoun, was released in late 2018 on the IBS Classic label.
Their new recording Crumb, Purcell and Schubert will be released in autumn 2020 on the Klarthe label.
The Ardeo Quartet enjoys sharing the stage with artists such as Thomas Demenga, Noam Greenberg, Matan Porat, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Evgeny Koroliov, Mario Brunello, Luís Fernando Perez, David Kadouch, Aaron Pilsan and collaborates more closely with pianist Adam Laloum, percussionist Vassilena Serafimova and clarinetist Reto Bieri. The quartet collaborates with the Orchestre National d’Île de France, the Musica Viva ensemble, the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música and conductors Julien Leroy, Alexander Rudin and Olari Elts on the occasion of the performance of John Adams’ concerto for orchestra Absolut Jest. In residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation from 2008 to 2016, the Ardeo Quartet also, from 2005 and for more than ten years, participated in the professional training and cultural activities of the ProQuartet association. Widely acclaimed by international and French critics, they made appearances on France Musique programs presented by Stéphane Goldet, Lionel Esparza, Frédéric Lodéon…
The Ardeo Quartet released its first recording in 2007 with the world premiere of Koechlin’s first two quartets. In collaboration with pianist David Kadouch, they released a recording dedicated to Shostakovich (Transart Live, 2010) and Schumann (Decca, 2011). With the help of the Palazzetto Bru Zane in Venice, the musicians recorded the world premiere of three quartets by Anton Reicha (Empreinte Digitale, 2014). A recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, transcribed by François Meïmoun, was released in late 2018 on the IBS Classic label.
Their new recording Crumb, Purcell and Schubert will be released in autumn 2020 on the Klarthe label.
