Among the many string quartet ensembles that spring up all the time, the Daedalus String Quartet in particular possesses a youthful and buoyant sound which would make any concert of theirs enjoyable. Read More...

... fabulous playing of the members of the Daedalus Quartet ... the work itself and the performers seemed to be totally together as one. Read More...

This latest installment of Bridge’s Lerdahl collection is delivered by the Daedalus Quartet, whose Joycean name indicates their own capacity for mind-nourishing works and gripping accounts thereof. Read More...

The Daedalus Quartet offered the most arresting performance of the evening ... If this kind of playing is an example of what Bridge may have in store for us over the next 30 years, the future looks bright indeed. Read More...

The Daedalus Quartet performed Haydn’s Quartet in E Flat, Op. 33, No. 2, the “Joke” ...the performance was stylish, convincing, and, when appropriate, downright funny. Read More...

The program opened with a radiant performance of one of the miracles of string quartet literature, Mozart's very last quartet, K. 590 in F major. I loved the way the players were engaged in this musical "conversation," listening to and answering each other in five-note or two-note phrases. Consoling, tender, witty, unforgettably melodic, this great work has just about everything you could want in a string quartet, and so did the performance. Read More...

The refined but passionate Daedalus Quartet gave a riveting performance of Richard Wernick’s String Quartet No. 8, composed last year.

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"A cleanly argued, vital account."

"An exceptionally refined young ensemble with a translucent sound."

This was a bustling, kinetic interpretation of Beethoven's First, but the architecture was clearly lined, and this combination of energy with respect for form was thoroughly enjoyable. Their tone was precise and their ensemble work tight, never losing control no matter how fast they rode this splendid old warhorse."

The four players disappeared into the music: we could practically see the work's complicated structure taking place before our very eyes, and the emphatic, repeated chords that swept us movingly through the final Allegro were done with both verve and stateliness. This was ensemble playing at its best, and Beethoven at his best."

"Seamless and deeply satisfying. ... Unflagging enthusiasm and depth."

"Imaginative and energetic."

String Quartets as philosophically like-minded as the Daedalus don't come along very often... In Haydn's String Quartet in F Major, Opus 77, No. 2. III:82, each member bent the tempos of short interloping figures so subtly you could only marvel at the finesse."

"One of the finest young groups to emerge in our current golden age of string quartets."

"Insightful and vibrant."

The Daedalus musicians brought out the emotion in this work while demonstrating smooth, elegant phrasing and incredible lightness of tone. ... The finale showcased the tremendous emotional power of these musicians, from the swelling, sobbing opening to the ecstatic conclusion."

Any doubts about those resources were put to rest by a hair-raising rendition of Shostakovich's Third Quartet. The group... dispensed both finesse and fury in the right proportions and showed an intuitive feel for Shostakovich's idiom, with its acid sarcasm, its tongue-in-cheek banality, and its explosive outbursts of emotion. Many groups excel at this music's expressive extremes, but the Daedalus also did a fine job tracing moments of ambiguity, in which certain instrumental lines or dance figures hover in a strange, multivalent netherworld somewhere far beyond tragedy and farce."

"One of the finest chamber ensembles around."

"Among the most impressive young quartets on the international scene."

"The Daedalus underscored the [Debussy quartet's] formal elegance with impeccable balance and articulation, while also emphasizing its elusive passion and wit through imaginative management of phrasing and dynamics."

"One of the freshest and most exciting of the younger American ensembles."

The Daedalus Quartet seemed it was flying not on wings of waxy feathers, but rather on jet-propelled rockets of blistering virtuosity... The music rang gloriously, and the audience emerged wowed and grateful."

"There are so many fine new string quartets and chamber ensembles today that it can be hard to keep them straight - but there's no fear of the Daedalus Quartet getting lost in the shuffle, ... Full of verve and energy. ... It was a beautifully detailed, finished performance ... both incisive and unified."

"They built a labyrinth of sound out of the most delicate of materials. Overall, this was splendid music-making... a fabulous performance... infectiously buoyant and exuberant."

"Such security, technical finish, interpretive unity and sheer gusto it sounded as if these young string players had somehow been performing these works together for a good 50 or 60 years... The Daedalus members were so at-one with their composers, we were happily caught off-guard by every emotional surprise they sprang."

"Polished and vigorous."

"A riot of joyful noise."

"The Daedalus Quartet is about clear, refined musicality, drawing an audience into a performance through understatement. Pretty soon, the hall is stock-still as the quartet goes about exposing the delicate inner workings of the music. ... In its best moments _ and there were a lot of them - the performance of works by Schubert, the tortured Romantic, and Gyorgy Ligeti, that harrowed soul of contemporary composition, was pretty extraordinary. It felt like a tour through hidden worlds. ... Finely cultured, authoritative yet relaxed, the group id a string quartet to keep an eye on."