From The Hawks Bay Today (New Zealand)

Hawke?s Bay was privileged to be one of the only five centres to receive a visit from this distinguished ensemble which has earned an enviable world-wide reputation for the quality of both its live performances and its recordings. Consequently there was a sense of expectation leading up to this concert. That this anticipation was not misplaced was obvious from the first notes of the marvellous String Quartet No 3 in F Opus 73 by Shostakovich, leading to a performance demonstrating the greatest skill and subtlety. The obvious technical freedom of each of these fine players, violinist brothers Weigang Li and Yi-Wen Jiang, violist Honggang Li and cellist Nicholas Tzavaras, combining in the most exquisite ensemble was captivating for the listener. It was playing that drew out the essential character of each of the five contrasted movements leading to the beautifully played final bars. The inclusion of Chinese folk songs titled ChinaSong, which second violinist Jiang has arranged, was a delight for the audience which obviously found instant appeal in the range of distinctive melodies contained in the three contrasted movements depicting dance, a pastoral scene and harvest celebration. Much of the music stemmed from folk melodies originally played on simple traditional instruments from the various regions of this vast country, skilfully transcribed for the sophistication of the string quartet, but losing nothing in the translation. The clarity, balance and intimacy of the playing highlighted the beauty and character of this charming music. In the final work, String Quartet in A Minor Opus 51 No 2 by Brahms, the players added an expansive quality to their playing and very successfully projected the full sweep of the romantic character of this music. Again this superb individual solo quality of each of these players was evident, particularly in the lyricism of the slow movement where the balance of interplay between solo line and accompaniment was maintained to perfection. The energy and rhythmic precision demonstrated in the dance-like character of the Finale emphasised again the superb standard of this splendid ensemble, to end a truly memorable concert.

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