NEW RELEASES

Experience the Ébène Quartet’s acclaimed album, Fiction, live at the Folies Bergère in Paris. The New York Times noted, “An Ebène arrangement of the Dick Dale surf-rock anthem ‘Misirlou’ teased out the song’s piquant Mediterranean roots; a rendition of Astor Piazzolla’s ‘Libertango’ did uncommon justice to the danger and libido in the original. When the Ebène members sang in elegantly harmonized French to start ’Some Day My Prince Will Come,’ you grew convinced that there was nothing they couldn’t do.”

Virgin Classics is proud to present the DVD of their incredible live concert performance of Fiction. Recorded at The Folies Bergère in Paris, the DVD features guest appearances by stars like soprano Natalie Dessay and jazz singer Stacey Kent.

Pierre Colombet, the quartet’s leader, explains that: “As an ensemble we try to be as broad in our repertoire choices as possible. Genres like pop and jazz are often overlooked by the classical world because classical music is so intelligent, but when other musical genres are played really well they can also reveal treasures. This is why it is important for us to play jazz and other styles of music for a classical audience – because it introduces them to something new; and equally jazz and pop audiences can discover that classical instruments are capable of different sounds. Our jazz-playing also helps to inform our classical performance. It enables us to look at the score from a different perspective and to see classical music as a kind of improvisation. We like to be as free as possible in our performance and for every concert to be slightly different.”