Debussy – Ravel – Attahir: String Quartets

The string quartets of Debussy and Ravel, composed within a decade of each other, make a natural pairing. The Arod Quartet, celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2023, sets these two belle époque masterpieces in a present-day context with a third work: Al Asr, by the young French composer Benjamin Attahir. The scope of this Erato release is further expanded with a DVD documentary directed by Bruno Monsaingeon – celebrated for his profiles of musicians ranging from Yehudi Menuhin, Glenn Gould and Nadia Boulanger to the Alban Berg Quartet, Piotr Anderszewski and David Fray. It is called Ménage à quatre, and, as Monsaingeon says, “explores the secret of the harmonious life of a string quartet”. In addition to the entire third movement of Debussy’s string quartet, the documentary features music by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Bartók, Ravel and György Kurtág Now in his late nineties, Kurtág also makes an appearance in the film.