Seaton Music Club gave an enthusiastic welcome on Thursday to the Atrium String Quartet, who gave a sparkling performance for the first concert of this, the 60th anniversary, season of the Club.
The quartet (Alexey Naumenko, Anton Ilyunin, Dmitry Pitulko and Anna Gerlova) was founded in St Petersburg at the Conservatoire in 2003, and is now resident in Berlin.
Expectations were high and were immediately justified with the first item – Beethoven’s Quartet in F, opus 18 no.1. The changing mood and character of the first movement, the dramatic opening of the second, the delicate light and shade and clear articulation throughout showed not only the technical brilliance of the players but also their emotional and intellectual involvement.
All four members of the quartet hadvirtuoso parts throughout and the whole palette of emotions evoked by all was evident in their rendering.
The hall was well filled and the members did not let the players go without an encore. They chose a short piece by a German-Turkish composer, full of sparkle and wit, with impossible sounding fast passages, oriental rhythms and dramatic sound effects worthy of a film score - and not expected from these instruments!
The Atrium Quartet are giving 16 concerts in their current UK tour and Seaton was indeed privileged to have had one of them.
The next concert in the season is on Thursday 10 November, when the pianist John Lill will play works by Mozart, Schumann, Prokofiev, Brahms and Beethoven.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here