If there is one word to describe these four young musicians it would be "passion". First, a passion for period instruments, as members of the finest French ensembles, such as L’Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Les Talens Lyriques and Le Concert de la Loge Olympique. Second, a passion for researching beautiful, forgotten scores and playing them with great skill and care. Finally, a passion for the quartet form, as the best way to express their musical harmony.
By choosing the name of Giuseppe Maria Cambini (1746-1825), a violinist and prolific composer who led a life of adventure, the quartet bears witness to its interest in exploring the stylistic variety of the classical romantic periods.
Since it was founded in 2007, the ensemble has been singled out and applauded for performing masterpieces by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Mendelssohn and for rediscovering unjustly forgotten French composers such as Jadin, David and Gouvy.
In just a few seasons, the Cambini-Paris Quartet has been invited by many major European venues and festivals: the Versailles Baroque Music Center, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Palazzetto Bru Zane in Venice, the Bruges Concertgebouw, the Marble Palace of Saint Petersburg, the San Filippo Neri oratory in Bologna, the Opéra Comique, the Auditorium of the Louvre Museum and the Radio France Broadcasting House in Paris, the Oyster Festival in Deauville, the Sablé-sur-Sarthe Festival, the Entrecasteaux Festival, Festival of Lubéron and the Epau Festival.
The musical scene occupied by the Cambini-Paris Quartet has been enriched by its work with other artists such as Alain Planès, Alain Meunier, Christophe Coin and Jérôme Pernoo.
Its first recording, dedicated to Devienne, Vachon, Cambini and Boccherini was released in 2007 for MBF. The quartet was then chosen by the channel Arte to perform for the twentieth anniversary concert of the Versailles Baroque Music Center (of which the DVD was released in 201) and also to take part in a documentary about Grétry (A musician in turmoil).
In 2010 the quartet won the Discovery Golden Diapason Prize for its Hyacinthe Jadin’s record (Timpani). The brand new recording of three of Félicien David’s quartets, a world premiere, was critically acclaimed and won the “ffff” Telerama magazine Prize and the “Coup de Coeur” of Carrefour de Lodéon and Concertclassic as well.
The Cambini-Paris Quartet is in residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation in Paris, and is funded by the Swiss Life Foundation. It has also an ongoing collaboration with the Center of French Romantic Music (the Palazzetto Bru Zane) in Venice.