Gerhard Quartet Review – Ad Astra

The first strings of Claude Debussy's famous string quartet sound surprisingly rough and grainy. Melodies bloom with bright colours, individual gestures stand out strongly, but in between there is always the risk of paralysis, even collapse. The Gerhard Quartet from Barcelona convincingly demonstrate in their interpretation that we are dealing with avant-garde modernism. The group is not interested in impressionistic or even romantic clichés. This is a good thing. The flamenco echoes of the second movement appear more like a Cubist image than a tourist postcard. It continues analytically and intelligently, and at the same time with passion and passion. This Debussy is combined with a piece by Spaniard Ramon Humet from 2020. Here the tonal space unfolds in several ways with spectral overlapping chords, and the shimmering sound surfaces have defined swells. The Gerhard Quartet also liked this.

Ad Astra
Debussy: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10, Humet: I want to be seen

Gerhard Quartet
Clarity