Borletti-Buitoni Trust
BBT Artists
Rewarding Musical Excellence
Felix and Fanny
Mendelssohn String Quartets Nos 2 in A minor & 6 in F minor Opp 13 & 80
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel String Quartet in E flat
Quatuor Ébène
CD 509994645462 | Erato (originally Virgin Classics) | www.warnerclassics.com
One of the four CDs which the Borletti-Buitoni Trust supported as part of Quatuor Ébène’s BBT Award in 2007 and originally released on Virgin Classics, and now on Erato. One of the world’s finest quartets, its recording of Mendelssohn’s sixth and final quartet, Op 80, recently (14 November 2020) received BBC Radio 3’s Building a Library accolade as the best available. On this CD that sixth quartet is joined by the second as well as a quartet by Felix’s similarly talented elder sister Fanny.
Ravel, Debussy & Fauré String Quartets
Quatuor Ébène
CD 5099951904524 | Erato (originally Virgin Classics) | www.warnerclassics.com
For the first of it’s three BBT-supprted Virgin Classics discs (now on Erato), the Quatuor Ébène performed core French repertoire – Ravel, Debussy and Fauré, eliciting rave reviews:
Three French masterpieces played by young musicians with a rare degree of expressive subtlety, blended sonorities and electrifying joy… great disc.
***** The Times, September 2008
Fiction
Quatuor Ébène
Richard Héry drums
Stacey Kent
CD 509962866804 | Erato (originally Virgin Classics) | www.warnerclassics.com
Fiction is a dream finally come true for Quatuor Ébène – with the help of its 2007 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. It’s a new approach to playing string quartets with an eclectic mix of improvised jazz and popular classics from Pulp Fiction to Corcovado. As well as Stacey Kent, Quatuor Ébène are joined on the CD by Luz Casal (for Amado Mio) Natalie Dessay (Over the rainbow) and Fanny Ardant (Lilac Wine). The disc was originally released on Virgin Classics (EMI), now Erato (Warner Classics).
Brahms: String Quartet No 1 in C minor Op 51 No 1
Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor Op 34
Quatuor Ébène
Akiko Yamamoto piano
CD 5099921662225 Erato (originally Virgin Classics) | www.warnerclassics.com
Supported by its 2007 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in recording three discs for Virgin Classics (now Erato/Warner Classics), the Quatuor Ébène’s Brahms disc with pianist Akiko Yamamoto follows up the French quartet’s highly successful debut CD of Fauré, Debussy, Ravel.