The Beethoven Project, Part One – Elias String Quartet

The Elias Quartet resumed their Beethoven sequence in grand style with contrasting and significant works. Positioned halfway down the Nave, the Elias made full use of the very clear acoustic from the start, achieving some perfect pianissimos in the early Opus 18 no.6. Even from the back of a gratifyingly large audience we could hear every nuance. If anything, Opus 59 no.2 ‘Rasumovsky’, a great favourite, came off even better. It made for a rather long first half, but who should worry?

The second half was devoted to Opus 135, Beethoven’s enigmatic last quartet (“Must it be? It must be!”) where the dynamic contrasts were more effective still. Part Two follows on 17 May, Part Three on 23 May.

All Saints’ Church, Hove, 3 May 2014

Rating: