The Pro Arte Piano Quartet was made up of leading London-based\ninstrumentalists, many of whom also played in the Melos Ensemble of\nLondon. Pianist Lamar Crowson was, and remains, one of the great\nchamber music pianists of all time (and a soloist in his own\nright). Kenneth Sillito led, for several years, the Academy of St.\nMartin in the Fields. Terence Weil was principal cellist of the\nEnglish Chamber Orchestra and, like viola player Cecil Aronowitz, a\nfounding member of the Melos Ensemble. Together they made three\nrecords for L’Oiseau-Lyre, the Decca subsidiary and they are all\nnow issued on Decca Eloquence from Australia.

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Mozart’s two piano quartets constitute two of the most important\nworks in this genre. The first, in G minor, is full of anguish and\npassion, while the second, in E flat, conjures up the gentler, more\nromantic side of the composer’s nature – dreaminess, but with more\nthan a touch of nobility.

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