Debussy and Ravel: Dante Quartet

Ravel's insulting exclusion from the final round of the Prix de Rome in 1905 was all the more baffling as it came just months after the acclaimed premiere of his masterly string quartet in F, to some extent a homage to his friend Debussy whose own quartet in G minor is paired with it on this recording. Homage it may be, but it is still distinctly Ravel's own voice. The splendid Dante Quartet capture beautifully both the shifting light on Debussy's impressionist canvas and the luminous filigree of Ravel's transcendent creation.