Elmore Quartet
Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome, 15 February 2026
Strings Attached
It was an ambitious programme – three full string quartets, one late eighteenth century and one early nineteenth, sandwiching a dramatically different twentieth century offering
We began with Haydn Op 76, no 5 nicknamed “The Largo” because of its second movement. As in most Haydn quartets there is a virtuosic. very exposed, first violin part – I have murdered many of them myself in private so I’m very aware of the challenges. It was, therefore, a real pleasure to hear that part, in Xander Croft’s capable hands, waving its magic over the top of the texture before the melody is shared round in the opening movement. The deceptively simple largo came with rich warmth and a lot of elegance especially in Gabriel Franci-Dehgani’s cello playing. The Elmore quartet’s playing more than complemented the intricacy of the writing here. There was more bravura, but suitably insouciant, high-speed cello playing in the trio. And the presto finale, which sounds like a very jolly Austrian village party and builds to a dance, was fun. It came with lots of very attentive rapport between players especially in the repeated note motif which was always delivered with escalating excitement.
Then we were plunged into a completely different sound world with Bartok’s String Quartet no 3. It’s through-written in four sections and the Elmore Quartet really ran with the musical special effects that Bartok was able to play with in 1928, 132 years after the premiere of the Haydn. Among other points of interest it includes interrogative glissandi, bowing over the bridge for grating effect, left hand pizzicato, col legno passages and very incisive heavy chords. It’s educative to watch four experts adeptly running with this.
After the interval it was back to the familiarity of Beethoven’s Op 127 no 1. One his “late” quartets. It was written after the 9th Symphony when he was totally deaf.
The Elmore Quartet’s account of the first movement juxtaposed dynamic charm with passion and stressed the rich harmony of the opening big, Eroica-esque chords. The very long, almost unbearably beautiful Aadagio is actually a set of six variations, And like all slow movements, as I know from experience, it’s very diffcicult to bring off. Here it was delivered with immaculate, tender control. The contrasting third movement found attractive lightness in the complex rhythms and they played the Finale with plenty of freshness and verve.
Each half of this concert was introduced by Inis Oirr Asano (viola_ which was largely unnecessary because most of what she said was in the free programme sheet. Nonetheless, I suppose it makes a Sunday morning concert seem friendlier and less formal,
And perhaps that is important because there were a number of children in the audience. Strings Attached is a Brighton-based charity which produces these concerts. Its mission is to promote chamber music in the city. We were informed, by their spokesperson at the beginning of the concert, that their policy of free tickets for under-25s is paying dividends. Numbers of the young attendees are rising. Hurrah.
