Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Elias String Quartet

Sixteen of the finest string players around join forces on one stage to end the East Neuk Festival in a grand finale. 

Making their long-awaited debut in Japan, the Elias String Quartet embarks on the complete Beethoven cycle with a contrasting programme of early and late quartets.

Alice Neary and the Elias Quartet display the full emotional range in a captivating performance of Schubert's String Quintet to close the BBC Proms Chamber Music series at Cadogan Hall.

The classy Elias String Quartet brighten the morning with enjoyable Haydn and Mendelssohn, but Britten doesn't sit quite right. 

Musica Viva claims to be the largest presenter of chamber music in the world, and in the last few years, they have brought world-renowned ensembles to Australia such as the Takács and Tokyo Quartets, as well as many exciting newer groups such as the Pacifica Quartet.

Music fans love to get the whole picture. We consume box-sets, bootlegs, alternate takes, and artist interviews – all in the name of completeness. Some people say a good CD library should have at least three Eroicas and five Fifths to be complete, while music magazines might recommend more. Of course, live music venues have their own shot at completeness when they schedule a “cycle”.

In what would turn out to be a concert of two very distinct halves, the Elias Quartet impressed in the cosy confines of Wigmore Hall. After a full ‘daily grind’, arriving at this cocoon of a hall – where outside noise is absent, save for the occasional underground rumble – felt like a real treat. Here was a chance to sink into some cosy chamber music to wash over the listener – or maybe not.