Review: Endellion String Quartet ***

They had chosen a Russian theme, opening with Tchaikovsky's Third Quartet, a work sketched in a symphonic texture with the type of harmonic clashes and sequences he would have given to the orchestra.

It needs a big and bold approach and a rhythmic security to convey the quick-fire exchanges that go through the work. For a quartet I greatly admire, the performance was marred by edgy intonation and a feeling that each member was so intent on their own role that it almost appeared as a rehearsal rather than a finished performance.

Everything clicked back into place in Beethoven's Second of the Razumovsky quartets composed for his patron, Prince Razumovsky.

That the Endellion is regarded as one of today's great Beethoven exponents comes from the natural pacing with which their performances unfold; the exact balance between instruments; precise articulation and slow movements that are an oasis of calm beauty. All virtues were here on display, the brilliant finale bubbling with a happiness that sent the audience away well pleased.

Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate