There's no messing about, no small talk. In the hushed and expectant Upper Chapel, the Belcea get straight down to business – Haydn (Op.50 No. 6) at his elegant best despatched with pleasing facility by four musicians nearing their peak.
Afterwards, they profess nerves in presuming to play such a well known classic where the Lindsays once held court.
No-one is really convinced, but they do move on to a real speciality of theirs – Britten's Third Quartet. They explain that this, t
he composer's last work, was written for the Amadeus Quartet who coached them and that they are using Siegmund Nissel's Stradivarius.
With the heightened expectation, the first movement feels fairly ordinary, but the four movements that follow are full of extraordinary string sounds; sul ponticellos and col legnos used, not merely to display the composer's technique, but with genuine expressive intent.
So the music of the dying composer dies away al niente: how do they manage to play so softly?
After the intensity an interval is necessary, so the audience can return fresh from various watering holes ready to get to grips with Beethoven's Third Rasumovsky Quartet.
The slow introduction holds the attention straight away, played uncompromisingly without vibrato, while the effortless ensemble impresses as it has done throughout the evening.
Will there be some pyrotechnics to finish? Of course. Neither Beethoven's allegro molto finale, nor the Belcea's world-class technique disappoint.
Music in the Round at the Upper Chapel, Sheffield
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