Twelve years of continuous activity of the ensemble, three published studio recordings, five concert seasons at the Small hall of the “Vatroslav Lisinski” Concert Hall, along with a series of concerts held in Slovenia and Croatia – all of that makes 4 Syrinx Flute Quartet one of the biggest refreshments on our chamber music scene. Apart from the excellent musical material they perform with unquestionable mastery, 4 Syrinx Quartet demonstrates all qualities of a top chamber ensemble that cares intensely not only about their own performing affinities, but also about the audience, whose number has grown a lot during these five concert seasons in „Lisinski“.
Searching for original scores written for these instruments can be tiring at times, including the inevitable work coordination, since the members of the quartet live and work in different places. However, this Slovenian-Croatian combination whose members are Karolina ŠantlZupan, Špela Benčina, Marina Novak and Darija Zokić, delights the audience with diversity of the repertoire, their musical enthusiasm and constant desire to discover new possibilities in building a recognizable sound of their own.
Such a serious approach is also present on Decade. It is only a small part of the best material recorded at the „Lisinski“ concerts and, given that the album contains only recordings of live performances, with no post-production work on the material, that is very present in discography today. All the credits for transferring such a high level of performance and interpretation onto a recording go to the sound engineer and producer of this CD, Saša Wozdecky.
A good balance of works by some of the most significant classical composers, arranged for the ensemble, and those originally written for a flute quartet, mostly by contemporary composers, reflects a wide interpretational range of these musicians, equally inspired by the music of the past, as well as the one of the present. That is precisely what seems to be the key to a long-lasting continuous musical activity that, we hope, will last for a long time in the case of 4 Syrinx.
Compliments for a great work!
Zvonimir Bajević