<<  -- 4 --  Malcolm Miller    FLAIR AND MOMENTUM

K575 also received an exhilarating and unusual account, with the florid cello solos tastefully restrained and delicately subdued and woven in with the ensemble. The quartet was the first of the three composed for Frederick Wilhelm II, the Prussian monarch and amateur cellist, and usually the flowery duets for leader and cello are highlighted, yet here the cello often remained in the background as if to highlight the ensemble.

The suave lyrical first theme soared delightfully in violin and viola whilst the cello's rising second theme was answered gracefully by the second violin before its motivic cells permeated the entire volatile texture. The gentle Andante unfolded with caressing warmth contrasted by the brisling buoyancy of the Menuetto.

Overall the Skampa was fully alive to the conversational interactions so apt to a work composed in 1789, and which appears to idealize revolutionary egalitarianism in its handling of the medium, with a wealth of varying groupings amongst the instruments. The familiar themes were warmly projected and shaped, with so many details of emphasis and nuance, and with its sparkling élan, the tuneful finale had one whistling whilst wending one's way home.