Instrument: Quartet

A wide-ranging programme from the shape-shifting ensemble at Wigmore Hall explores love in its many guises. 

A young piano quartet makes an impressive American debut and underlines the non-obvious in standard repertoire.

Playing repeatedly in my mind as I walked home on 24 July was the spine-chilling orchestral performance of the "Dance of the Knights" from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet in the Franz Liszt Academy’s superb Solti Hall.

The Britten Oboe Quartet gave highly engaging and communicative performances of an imaginative and intelligent programme, with cerebral serialism from Elisabeth Lutyens combined with early Elgar, Britten and sublime Mozart to finish.

Auckland has not seen chamber music of this sheer magnetic excitement since, funnily enough, the Takács Quartet were here a couple of years ago. There must be something in the water in Hungary for that country to concurrently have two such magnificent string quartets.

A fresh and delightful performance of Handel and Bononcini duets with the Luscinia Quartet.

In some circles Mark O’Connor is a legend in his own time. While still a teenager he won wide acclaim as one of the best bluegrass fiddlers of our age. Beyond many albums of bluegrass and folk music, he has also made critically and commercially successful crossover recordings with the likes of cellist Yo-Yo Ma and double bassist Edgar Meyer.