How do you like your Bartók quartets served? With precision, passion, a sense of mystery or a sense of humour? With spontaneity or with a pinch of paprika?...Quatuor Diotima offer a balanced blend of all the principal ingredients.

Impassioned, concentrated and brilliant

This new set on the revived Näive label comes from the Quatuor Diotima, long-associated with thorny contemporary repertoire. They're marvellous here, forensically accurate but never driving the music too hard...An outstanding achievement then, and a library choice. These quartets aren't always easy listening, but they contain some of the last century's most profound and emotionally affecting music. If you've not heard them before, start here.