Music at Paxton
Elias Quartet
Paxton House
Miranda Heggie
four stars
MAKING their Music at Paxton debut, the Elias String Quartet were joined by pianist Benjamin Frith for a rousing recital on Saturday evening. Schumann's piano quintet in E flat was alive and exuberant, quartet and pianist playing with a strong, solid synergy. Opening with burst of joyous sound, Frith played with a real warmth and a lyrical, supple tone. The first movement, Allegro brillante, bubbled and fizzed, before the quintet took on the more sombre hues of the second. Pizzicatos in the strings were perfectly paired with articulated piano chords, and the final movement’s vigorous crescendos were flamboyant and exciting.
The concert opened with Sally Beamish’s 3rd String Quartet Reed Stanzas, commissioned for the quartet by BBC Radio 3 for a Prom in 2011. Composed on the isle of Harris, the sounds of birdsong are interspersed throughout the piece, as well as other influences from the natural world alongside Celtic folk music. Second violinist Donald Grant began the piece from off-stage, with a haunting, lilting solo melody inspired by traditional Scottish Pibroch. As he walked into the room to rejoin the quartet he was increasingly accompanied by sustained, close harmonies, colouring the music. The middle section of the piece was more frenetic, with snappy rhythms evoking more agitated bird calls, which still linger as the folk melody is reintroduced to close the piece.
With a change to the originally published programme, due to violist Martin Saving having injured his arm and being replaced for this performance by Robin Ireland, the quartet then performed Mendelssohn’s String Quartet no 2. Leader Sara Bitlloch performed simultaneously as a virtuoso and a real team player, in what was a fiery and passionate performance.
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