WOMAD

The Terem Quartet

From Russia

St Petersburg's stupendously talented foursome

Here's a question: have Terem Quartet ever played a duff note? After playing at breakneck speed for the best part of the last quarter-century, they must have done - but they're as rare as hen's teeth or rocking-horse excrement. That their performances are so blemish-free is the greatest credit to their phenomenal artistry - both as individual players and as the terrifically well-oiled machine that they are collectively. Applying the folk instruments of Russia (including the extraordinary outsized double bass balalaika) to a wide range of material, the quartet bridge the void between folk and classical. But their performances are anything but po-faced, buttoned-up recitals. Wearing mile-wide smiles throughout, there's plenty of mischief among the mind-blowing dexterity, a showmanship finely honed over thousands of performances, including those in front of the Pope and Mother Theresa. But keep those ears open when they take to the fields of WOMAD. Maybe this will be the time we finally hear that single wrong note…

www.terem-quartet.ru

(Biography written by Nige Tassell 2012)

Terem Quartet- Russian Traditional Song

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