Ensemble playing 'second to none'

The Coull Quartet, ably led by Roger Coull, clearly demonstrated the reasons for their reputation as one of the top string quartets in the world.

Resident at Warwick University for 30 years, the experience of playing together makes for a highly trained unit, the leader junifying their considerable talents and directing them along the same path. The ensemble playing was second to none.

The programme began with Mozart's Quartet in D, K.575, written when Mozart was very short of funds and under pressure to complete it.

He borrowed a few phrases from earlier works, but the result was a finely worked composition, an attractive piece brilliantly performed by this quartet.

Many listeners, expecting Smetana's first Quartet to be less impressive after the Mozart, were surprised by the power of expression displayed in this work which describes events in the composer's life.

The first movement begins with the 'burble' reminiscent of the flow of the Vltava through Prague and the Czech countryside, and builds to a breathtaking climax, expertly developed by the players.

Approaching deafness may be the link between the Smetana and the final work of the evening: Beethoven's Quartet in C, op. 59 no.3, dedicated to Count Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador in Vienna, but it remains one of the composer's great middle period quartets, stretching towards orchestral proportions at times and storming to a coruscating conclusion.

Taking the concert as a whole, members enjoyed a first class performance by a distinguished professional quartet who played with exquisite precision and attention to detail, at the same time exhibiting all the emotional tension evident in the music.