Brodsky Quartet with William Barton

Adelaide Festival, Elder Hall

28 February 2026

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Britain’s Brodsky Quartet have been around quite a while now, in fact 54 eclectic years. In that time, they have recorded widely, from  classical to Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, and our own Katie Noonan. They have also championed new composers such as Australian Andrew Ford, whose very evocative “String Quartet No 7 Eden Ablaze” was featured in this performance.

Added to the mix was, of course, William Barton’s yidaki (didgeridoo) and vocals. This collaboration was a complete success, Barton’s yidaki added colour and texture to the works. In this wide-ranging programme, the quartet kept to themselves for Janacek’s “String Quartet No 1 Kreutzer Sonata” with its graphic depiction of love, jealousy and murder, and New Zealander Salina Fisher’s “Torino”, a salute to Rob Thorne and his mastery of the putorino.

Another composer the quartet has promoted is our own Pete Sculthorpe and his “String Quartet No 11 Jabiru Dreaming” featured with welcome additions from Barton.

But the highlight of this performance was William Barton’s “Square Circles Beneath the Red Desert Sand”. With a bit of theatre, Barton entered the hall from the back, singing a wordless vocal as he made his way to reconnect with the quartet on stage and the music unfolded when the quartet joined in.

Memorable and brilliant, just what one would expect from these seasoned performers.