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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Erica Jeal

Adès: Alchymia album review – immaculate recording of an extraordinary work

Quatuor Diotima and Mark Simpson.
‘Both immediate and intriguing’: Quatuor Diotima and Mark Simpson. Photograph: Manuela Jans | Lucerne Festival

When Mark Simpson and Quatuor Diotima gave the premiere of Thomas Adès’s Alchymia two years ago, the piece was hailed as one of the composer’s finest recent achievements. Now, on this immaculate EP recording by the same performers, it sounds like some of the best recent chamber music of any composer, full stop.

Album artwork for Adès: Alchymia.
Album artwork for Adès: Alchymia. Photograph: PR
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