Intelligent take on a difficult program brings own rewards

"For the latest of its always welcome Australian tours, the Takacs Quartet has constructed two rich programs exploring youth, maturity, national difference and the influence of an absent centre.

Each starts with one of Janacek's two quartets, both written in the 1920s in his late years, and each closes with either Debussy's or Ravel's single quartet, both early works signalling first maturity before the composers moved on to create defining music of the Impressionist era.

In between are the youthful first and late third quartets of Benjamin Britten and the Variations for String Quartet by Gordon Kerry, both of whom share a capacity to create new meaning from classical genres and gestures." Click here to read more.

In between are the youthful first and late third quartets of Benjamin Britten and the Variations for String Quartet by Gordon Kerry, both of whom share a capacity to create new meaning from classical genres and gestures." Click here to read more.