Barbirolli String Quartet, Cairn Hotel, Harrogate (From Darlington and Stockton Times)
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Barbirolli String Quartet, Cairn Hotel, Harrogate
12:13pm Friday 23rd January 2009 in Search
THE first concert of five in this year’s Harrogate International Sunday Series saw the young women of the Barbirolli String Quartet draw a very respectablesized audience to the Cairn Hotel.
Formed in 2003 while at the Royal Northern College in Manchester, the four have established themselves as a remarkably fine ensemble, as was evident in the flowing elegance of the opening piece, Alan Rawsthorne’s First String Quartet, Theme and Variations, and in the following Beethoven F minor, Op 95, Quartet Serioso. There is still the strong promise that the players will develop further as they gain experience, bearing in mind that it takes a decade or more to develop the breadth and absolute qualities of a mature ensemble.
I watch them with interest, particularly in view of the high level of colour and sensitivity displayed in the well-balanced account of the Ravel String Quartet in F that rounded off the concert.
I look forward, too, to a solo appearance by their cellist, Victoria Simonsen, with pianist, Sam Armstrong, on Monday, March 2, for Ripon Cathedral Concert Society.
The next concert in the Harrogate series at the Cairn is on February 1, when the remarkable young internationalyl renowned violinist Nicola Benedetti will appear. For tickets, tel 0845-130-8840 or email box@harrogate-festival.org.uk; details are available at www. harrogate-festival.org.uk.
Dave Robson
