Vertavo String Quartet

Like its compatriot, pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, the Vertavo String Quartet has been described as a Norwegian national treasure.

Avoiding the obvious, however, the quartet skips over the works of Grieg to land in Denmark for the rarely heard G minor Quartet of their Scandinavian cousin Carl Nielsen.

The ensemble is on familiar international territory, though, with Beethoven’s own declared favourite among his string quartets and the third of Bartók’s six, both of which are cast in single-movement structures built from vividly varied components.