Young Classical Music Artists Agency and Promoter

Press Reviews for Doric String Quartet

‘This recital showed just why the Doric Quartet has recently been attracting so much praise. From the technical standpoint the players are superb, but, beyond that, they blend together as though of one mind - the touchstone of any such group.’
www.classicalsource.com Wigmore Hall April 2010

‘With their trademark wonderful timing, here comes a disc from the Dorics to remind us why they have been mentioned in this issue’s cover story as one of the finest young string quartets. There is, properly, a seriousness to their Haydn here as well as a polish that marks them out as musicians with fascinating things to say'.
Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice/James Inverne February 2010 featuring music by five of the leading young string quartets of today - the Doric, Jerusalem, Elias, Ebène and Pavel Haas quartets.

‘The Doric’s Haydn sparkles with wit on their impressive first recording…their very auspicious recording debut.'
Gramophone Magazine/Nalen Anthoni Chamber Review February 2010

‘Haydn and the Doric are a perfect match. This is an ensemble, young but mature of insight, that plays Haydn’s music with spirit, illuminating its blend of wit and sophistication, grace and vivacity, cunning and seemingly effortless spontaneity.... The Doric‘s performances, without exaggeration but with just the right degree of elucidation, revealed the music’s extraordinary originality and the way that Haydn can explore the potential of his thematic material so thoroughly yet so artlessly.... Unequivocally, these were performances of terrific panache and perception, seeming to get right under the skin of Haydn‘s creative genius.’
The Sunday Telegraph Wigmore Hall 18 January 2009

‘Making their York debut, last year’s winners of the Japan Osaka Competition, the Doric‘s showed that they are today’s finest UK Quartet at a time when we are inundated with brilliant young ensembles….Technically they are superb, their account of Janacék‘s highly charged, passionate and deeply emotional Intimate Letters capturing to perfection the enormous mood swings and massive dynamic range. They have the ability to play modern works with such deep understanding, yet can perform Haydn with a period awareness that is becoming all too rare. It is a wonderfully balanced ensemble with an uncommonly fine cello in John Myerscough, and a leader, Alex Redington, whose intonation is spotlessly clean. You only had to listen to their extraordinarily quiet ending to the slow movement in Beethoven’s Harp Quartet to know they are not afraid of taking risks.'
Yorkshire Post, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, February 2009

‘At a time when new string quartets are two a penny, the Doric Quartet has cleared its first hurdles with impressive ease….Haydn served this week as launching-pad for its New Town Concert in Edinburgh….The finesse of the performance, in which nothing was over-emphasised, spoke for itself. The soft-grained detail of the first movement showed immediately why these players are going places.’
The Herald Queen's Hall Edinburgh March 2009

‘Great wisdom and no self-indulgence’
The Strad 2008

‘Powerful, passionate and precise…The Doric String Quartet triumphed in their German debut’
Nordkurier Festspiele Mecklenburgh-Vorpommern July 2008

‘Seldom has Beethoven’s Opus 18 no. 1 quartet been performed with such thrilling intensity and uncompromised clarity. This was Beethoven full of new insights.'
Ostsee Zeitung Festspiele Mecklenburgh-Vorpommern July 2008

‘The players moved together with absolute unanimity, like a great sea anemone, and this was reflected in the unity of their sound. There was great wisdom and no self-indulgence to the slow movement of the Beethoven, as well as a creativity of sound, with restatements of the same phrase coloured differently each time…Earlier in the programme, the players had given a magical performance of Haydn’s op.76 No.1...I found their performances the most inventive, engaging, moving and beautiful'.
The Strad - Borciani Competition, October 2008

‘Performing Haydn’s op. 76 no. 1, the English Doric Quartet were distinguished by a rare grace, an abandon to the time of the soul, and a magnificent ability to maintain the “pianissimo”.'
La Stampa - Borciani Competition, July 2008

‘They brought it all to Brahms’s C minor Quartet, Op.51 with vigorous, wonderfully authoritative playing in which breathlessness seemed a virtue and lyrical intensity its happy result'.
South Wales Argus Riverfront Theatre, Newport, April 2008

'The agitation of the opening allegro [Walton], the lithe spring of the Presto, the nostalgic lyricism of the Lento and the turbulence of the Finale were vividly portrayed by the Doric, with thrilling attack and compelling urgency…
Newbury Weekly News - Newbury Spring Festival, May 2007

‘The Doric String Quartet offered playing of refinement and polish throughout the substantial programme of their recital at Wigmore Hall. Since their formation in 1998, the members of this accomplished ensemble have evolved into a streamlined performing unit…If Schubert’s Death and the Maiden Quartet is a more familiar recital item, it sounded newly-minted in the taut, committed performance it received from the Doric Quartet, who launched into the opening Allegro with zest and dedication and delivered playing of a scale and mastery that this great movement calls for'.
Musical Opinion - Wigmore Hall, January/February 2007

‘This was a really fine concert, interestingly programmed and exceptionally involving in the way it was played. The Doric is a quartet to watch.’
The Daily Telegraph - Wigmore Hall, January 2004

‘Great understanding of the ambivalence and mystery of [Beethoven’s Opus 127... the Dorics] will be among the big names before long'.
Manchester Evening News - Chester Festival, July 2004

‘The exceptional Doric String Quartet - average age 20 -… gave a ravishing and soberingly mature account of Zemlinsky’s Third Quartet'.
The Observer - PLG Series at the Purcell Room, January 2002

To engage the Doric String Quartet for a concert please call us on 020 7379 8477 or contact us using the enquiry form.

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