THE final classical recital in this year’s Swaledale Festival produced stunning performances of three very contrasting string quartets.

The unifying factor was the superb balance resulting from several years performing together and the sheer beauty of their sound both individually and together, due in part to the collection of outstanding instruments they play.

Sitting close together in a very tight grouping, their perfect blend was immediately demonstrated in Beethoven’s String Quartet in A major, Op.18, No. 5.

The light and delicate Andante and variations were beautifully played with each instrument taking it in turn to lead but they were equally good where swagger was needed.

Britten’s String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94 can often seem a choppy, terse piece but this seemed more unified than most. The highlights included a hauntingly beautiful solo for violin accompanied by the other instruments in turn or quietly together.

As the final movement of Britten’s last composition, I found the Passacaglia particularly moving, without the starkness of Shostakovich but still pared down to basic emotion.

The revelation for me in this programme was Grieg’s String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27 which the Navarra had recently performed in the composer’s villa in Bergen.

Its superbly rich orchestral interludes were played with tremendous flourish and there were many changes in mood and tempo in each movement, almost like incidental music to a film, except that this was written in 1878.

The Navarra played superbly here and throughout showing a remarkable ability to adapt their sound to suit each particular work.

The 2015 Festival will run from May 23 to June 6 and the programme will be available from January on swaledalefest.org.

Peter Bevan