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For three decades, the Quatuor Ysaÿe performed standard quartet repertory to high praise, also programming music written specifically for the group. Its reputation grew steadily after it was established in 1984. In the early 2000s, the quartet's recordings were in high demand. The members of the Quatuor Ysaÿe were also active as educators. Interest in the quartet's recorded output remained strong after the group dissolved in 2014, with a cycle of live Beethoven performances finding new life on a 2024 release.

The Quatuor Ysaÿe, or Ysaÿe Quartet, was formed in 1984. The original members were violinists Christophe Giovaninetti and Romano Tommasini, violist Miguel da Silva, and cellist Carlos Dourthe. The group members named the new quartet after the original Quatuor Ysaÿe, formed by violinist Eugène Ysaÿe in 1886. The new quartet studied in Cologne, Germany, with members of the Amadeus Quartet from 1986 to 1989, and also had lessons from LaSalle Quartet violinist Walter Levin. The group had various personnel changes over its history, but Silva was its sole violist. Quatuor Ysaÿe won the Grand Prix at the 1988 Evian International Competition, becoming the first French quartet to do so. In 1991, it released its debut album on the London label, featuring string quartets by Debussy and Ravel.

The group's performances of those quartets were consistently acclaimed, but it also earned praise for its readings of standard German quartet repertory, from Haydn to Schumann. The quartet was also known for its performances of works by contemporary composers, much of which it had commissioned. In 2001, the group released an album of music by André Boucourechliev on the Aeon label. The Quatuor Ysaÿe kept up a steady schedule of releases on in the early 2000s, on Aeon, Decca, and its own label, Ysaÿe Records, which it established in 2003. In 2012, the quartet announced its intention to disband at the beginning of 2014; its final years were devoted largely to performances of Beethoven. The group's membership when it disbanded comprised violinists Guillaume Sutre and Luc-Marie Aguera, Silva (who stated that the group's 30th anniversary marked a good time to conclude its operations), and cellist Yovan Markovitch. The quartet's recording catalog remained in print and viable, and in 2024, a cycle of Beethoven quartets that the group had performed live in 2008 at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris was issued on the La Dolce Volta label. Members of the quartet were active as educators, teaching at the Paris Regional Conservatory and giving master classes in the mountain city of Flaine. ~ James Manheim