Piatti Quartet

with Simon Callgahan

string quartet & piano

Thursday 11th March 2027

7.30pm Morpeth Methodist Church

Programme (on occasion, the artists may make minor changes to the published programme)

Vaughan Williams String Quartet No 1 in G minor

Schumann Piano Quartet in E flat major Op. 47

Dvořák Piano Quintet no 2 in A major Op. 81

Michael Trainor, violin
Emily Holland, violin
Miguel Sobrinho, viola
Jessie Ann Richardson, cello

Simon Callaghan, piano

on Ravel's String Quartet in F major ' ...the Piattis made the most of its vividly kaleidoscopic shimmering texture. It’s hard to imagine a finer performance, spikily percussive in the pizzicato-led second movement, then silkily dreamy in the slow-breathed third.'

Bachtrack 2025

More about the quartet from their website:

'Resident Quartet at Kings Place, London, the distinguished Piatti Quartet are widely renowned for their ‘profound music making’ (The Strad) and their ‘lyrical warmth’ (BBC Music Magazine). Since their prizewinning performances at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, they have performed all over the world with numerous international broadcasts.

The Piattis are famed for their diverse programming and passionate interpretations across the spectrum of quartet writing with commissions and recordings of some of the most major and impressive works added to the quartet canon in recent years.

Since their inception they have always had projects in the recording studio with critically acclaimed releases through a multitude of classical music’s top recording labels. Their wide ranging discography and repertoire is thanks to their enthusiasm and curiosity in collaborating with a broad range of artists including some of the most recognisable names in classical music. Recent accolades include five star BBC Magazine reviews for 2023 Mark-Anthony Turnage: Winter’s Edge, 2024 Joseph Phibbs: Quartets and Ned Rorem: Choral Works with St. Martin’s Voices, a Presto Music Award as one of the ‘Top 10 Recordings of the Year 2023’, and a nomination for ‘Recording of the Year’ with both Limelight and Gramophone for their 2022 collaborative disc with Nicky Spence and Julius Drake on the Hyperion label. This same album entitled ‘On Wenlock Edge’ was also singled out as one of the top 20 Ralph Vaughan Williams’ recordings of all time with Gramophone Magazine. Their follow up album, Fauré: La Bonne Chanson & Other Songs, was also shortlisted for the 2025 Gramophone Awards.

Contemporary music has been ever present in their repertoire and leaving a legacy to the quartet genre through commissions is one of the quartet’s central tenets. Major commissions and dedications have stemmed from Mark-Anthony Turnage, Emily Howard, Charlotte Harding, and Joseph Phibbs whilst they have premiered a mesmerising number of new works over the years beginning with Anna Meredith back in 2009. The Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Flagey Radio Hall Brussels, Wigmore Hall London, and the Aldeburgh Festival are some of the high profile occasions where new music has been presented and recordings of Turnage, Phibbs, and Gavin Higgins’ chamber music has also been extensively lauded by critics. After the UK premiere Julian Anderson’s Ice Quartet, the composer himself described them as ‘living treasures of chamber music.’

Historical research into quartet music that has been undiscovered or deserves to be better known has led to the premiere recordings of Irish composer Ina Boyle’s String Quartet in E Minor, her songs with quartet and Louise Farrenc’s epic Piano Quintet in C minor. They’ve also made a premiere recording of a work by Michael Tippett as well as performances and some recordings of lesser known quartet gems by Ralph Vaughan Williams, E.J. Moeran, Rachmaninov, Ireland, Haas, Ullmann, and Lucien Durosoir.

The quartet’s name is dedicated to Alfredo Piatti, a 19th Century virtuoso cellist who was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music (the alma mater of the founders of the quartet) and also a major exponent of chamber music and contemporary music of his time.

Recent highlights includes the quartet’s ongoing residency at Kings Place alongside performances at Brighton Festival, Buxton Festival, Wigmore Hall, and Oxford International Song Festival. Upcoming events for the 25/26 season onwards involves a return to Amsterdam at the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, tours of Ireland and South America, and album releases on Signum Classics, Rubicon, and Chandos Records.'