The Brodsky Quartet here performs music by composers who all have a strong connection to the ‘South’, be it ‘Latin’-inspired music of the Mediterranean or the rhythmic idioms of South America. From the Mediterranean we have Verdi’s Quartetto in E minor, the only string quartet that Verdi ever wrote, and Puccini’s Crisantemi with some sad melodies that would later be used in the tragic fourth act of Manon Lescaut. Turina’s La oración del torero (The Toreador’s Prayer) was inspired by scenes in a Spanish bull-fighting arena. The South American flavour comes from Piazzolla’s Four, for Tango, written in 1988 for the Kronos Quartet, which showcases Piazzolla’s new tango style. Full of captivating rhythms and harmonic warmth, Hugo Wolf’s Italienische Serenade has its own dance element. Last but not least, Paul Cassidy, the violist of the Brodsky Quartet, has arranged two of Paganini’s solo violin Capricci, Nos 6 and 24, for string quartet, translating their well-known virtuosic string writing. So, a wide variety of repertoire, all performed with style and panache by the Brodsky Quartet. Gramophone wrote of the Quartet’s Chandos debut disc, Petits-fours: ‘What is so striking about the playing of the Brodsky Quartet throughout is their brimming love for the music, with some ravishing shading down to the most hushed pianissimos. All this is caught in wonderfully rich and transparent sound.’