LAST RELEASE
Haydn: String Quartets Op. 76
For Quatuor Arod, the six string quartets in Haydn’s opus 76 “represent the apogee of the Classical style, but they are also ageless, presenting almost infinite possibilities”. This Haydn project – the Paris-based quartet’s first Erato recording of works from the late 18th century – has been close to Arod’s heart for a long time.
“Haydn, the founding father of the string quartet, composed the op. 76 quartets in his mid-sixties. Representing Haydn in all his maturity, achievement and mastery as he exploits a broad expressive palette, they constitute a turning point in the history of the quartet as a genre. They undoubtedly influenced Beethoven.”
In exploring this Classical repertoire, the Arod’s players sought to be “faithful to both the spirit and letter of these works … The modern bow, invented after the time of Haydn, did not allow us enough flexibility and lightness, which are defining features of his writing …” Arod’s solution was to commission a new set of bows, based on models produced in the 1770s by the celebrated Tourte brothers. The players’ instruments, which date from the 17th and 18th centuries, remained configured for modern practice.
“The impact of the Classical bows was immediate: the articulation became more natural, the responses more flexible, the sound more transparent. The bows transformed our playing, which became lighter, more open and more free … All in all, this recording of Haydn’s op. 76 quartets stands as an important landmark in our career, opening a new chapter in our way of approaching the quartet.”
2025 © Erato Warner Classics
Biography
Founded in 2013, the Quatuor Arod has been performing in the greatest concert halls in France and worldwide: Berlin Philharmonie, Berlin and Vienna Konzerthaus, Vienna Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, Gulbenkian, Stockholm Konzerthuset, Luxemburg Philharmonie, Oji Hall in Tokyo, Salzburg Mozarteum, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, LSO St Lukes, De Bijloke in Gent… as well as in many festivals: Verbier, Aix-en-Provence, Menton, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Bremen Musikfest, Spring Music Festival of Prague…
The Quatuor Arod collaborates with artists such as Klaus Mäkelä, Thibaut Garcia , Alexandre Tharaud, Amihai Grosz, Gary Hoffmann, Julia, Veronika & Clemens Hagen, Maximilian Hornung, Timothy Ridout, Daniel Hope, Augustin Dumay, Kit Armstrong… In 2017, they premiered French composer Benjamin Attahir’s first string quartet (commissioned by La Belle Saison, ProQuartet and the Quatuor Arod). The quartet is keen to promote contemporary music, and regularly commissions short pieces from young composers: Thomas Enhco, Benjamin Attahir, Eugene Birman…
The Quatuor Arod records exclusively for the label Erato/Warner Classics with a first Mendelssohn album (2017), then a second album, dedicated to the figure of Mathilde Zemlinsky, with the participation of the soprano Elsa Dreisig (Schoenberg, Zemlinsky and Webern/2019) which was awarded with the Edison Klassiek 2020. Their album “Schubert” was released in 2020 with great public and critical acclaim. In the fall of 2023 they released a French album (Debussy, Ravel, Attahir), alongside the documentary “Ménage à Quatre” by Bruno Monsaingeon, who follows the quartet in its day-to-day, and accompanies the musicians in a meeting with composer György Kurtág. 2025 sees the release of Bach Chorals on streaming platforms, as part of their digital project “A Journey Through Harmony”. A new album, featuring the complete Opus 76 by Haydn, is released in the fall of 2025.
During the 2025-2026 season, the quartet is in residence at the Mendelssohnhaus in Leipzig and with La Belle Saison alongside clarinetist Pierre Génisson, with whom they perform notably at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris. They are returning to Flagey in Brussels, in Tenerife, in Den Haag, at the Elbphilharmonie, at the Wigmore Hall… They are performing at the String Quartet Biennales in both Paris (Philharmonie) and Amsterdam (Muziekgebouw), where they are performing with Klaus Mäkelä. They are performing alongside the Quatuor Danel at the Southbank Centre and at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
The Quatuor Arod has benefited from the teaching of Mathieu Herzog, Jean Sulem, and the Quatuor Artemis. They have also worked regularly with the Quatuor Ebène and the Quatuor Diotima. In 2016, they won the First Prize at the ARD International Music Competition of Munich. They had already been awarded the First Prize at the Carl Nielsen International Competition of Copenhagen in 2015 and the First Prize at the European Competition of the FNAPEC Concours in 2014. In 2016, they were HSBC laureates of the Festival d’Aix Academy. In 2017, they were appointed “BBC New Generation Artist” from 2017 to 2019, and ECHO Rising Star for the season 2018-2019.
1st violin – Jordan VICTORIA (Violin by Francesco Goffriller)
2nd violin – Alexandre VU (Violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini)
Viola – Tanguy PARISOT (Composite viola Carlo Ferdinando Landolphi, Pietro Giovanni Mantegazza – 1775)
Cello – Jérémy GARBARG (Cello by Giovanni Battista Ruggieri – circa 1700)
Jordan Victoria
If you were to recommend a quartet in a particular version?
Beethoven String quartet Opus 59 No. 1 Third movement by the Lindsay Quartet
Alexandre Vu
If you were to recommend a quartet in a particular version?
Beethoven String quartet Opus 135 No. 16 Third movement by the Hagen Quartet
Tanguy Parisot
If you were to recommend a quartet in a particular version?
Beethoven String quartet Opus 18 No. 1 Second movement by the Artémis Quartet
Jérémy Garbarg
If you were to recommend a quartet in a particular version?
Beethoven String Quartet Op. 132 by the Quatuor Ebène, as much for the musical acomplishment as the dimension of the project.