The Library of Congress’ free concerts series will showcase the Arcanto Quartet tonight. They will  be playing Mozart’s String Quartet in D Minor, K. 421, Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major, and Bartok’s Strong Quartet #5.

I have never seen this quartet, but I gather that they specialize in the French repertoire, so I am especially excited to hear them play Ravel. I never thought much of him – having heard little but his overplayed, though enjoyable, Bolero – until I saw the beautiful French film Un Coeur un hiver with one of my favorite actors, Daniel Auteuil. That movie was partly about a violinist recording a number of Ravel trios and sonatas and remains, in my mind, one of the best movies ever made about art.