Apollon Musagète Quartet

The Polish quartet’s programme was carefully constructed, and their balanced, chronological approach opened with a performance of Mendelssohn’s older No.2 quartet, where the four musicians’ rich, nuanced playing was truly moving. The vignettes in Profokiev’s ‘Visions Fugitives’ failed to provoke much of a reaction, but Sravinsky’s Concertino was a short, sharp shock to the system that was invigorating. Shostakovich’s more modern No.4 quartet divided the audience’s opinion through its daring use of light and dark moments, but this reviewer was thrilled by the haunting, complicated music and the idiosyncratic foot-stamping of the passionate players.

Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome, 13 October 2013

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