Quatuor Diotima

Quatuor Diotima, formed in 1996 by graduates of the Paris National Conservatory, is among the world’s most sought-after chamber ensembles. Its name has dual significance: it references Diotima, a symbol of German romanticism from Friedrich Hölderlin’s Hyperion, and serves as a rallying cry for contemporary music, as seen in Luigi Nono’s Fragmente-Stille, an Diotima .

The quartet has closely collaborated with renowned late 20th-century composers, including Pierre Boulez and Helmut Lachenmann, and frequently commissions new works from contemporaries like Toshio Hosokawa and Rebecca Saunders. Reflecting today’s musical landscape, the quartet shines a new light on masterpieces of the 19th and 20th centuries, including those by Beethoven, Schubert and Bartók.

Their discography features significant recordings on Naïve, such as all six string quartets by Bartók and works from the Second Viennese School. In 2021, they released portraits of Gérard Pesson, Enno Poppe, Stefano Gervasoni and Mauricio Sotelo. For Ligeti’s 100th birthday in 2023, they released a dedicated album on Pentatone, which has received enthusiastic acclaim, with Gramophone Magazine highlighting it as ‘the go-to Ligeti string quartets disc for the foreseeable future.’