Work: String Quartet no. 53 in D major "The Lark”, Op.64 no.5, Hob III:63

Aren’t nicknames interesting! I’m sure there’ll have been hundreds of studies into the development, designation, and deployment of nicknames and the historical and sociological conclusions we can draw from the Daves, D-Diddies and Dangerous Dans alike. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if the nickname formed the basis of an entire field of academic enquiry.

This was a short BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert, but a very good one. Of course, nothing less would be expected from the Takács Quartet, who surely have a very good claim to be the world's foremost string quartet. Even if only for a sold-out hour, all the characteristics which make them great were amply on show here.

Sometimes music is a more effective transporter than the London Underground. This was certainly the case this Tuesday, when closures on the Piccadilly line resulted in me cycling at breakneck speed half-way across London to hear the Danish String Quartet playing in what I imagined to be a regular, run-of-the-mill, wear-what-you-like-as-long-as-it’s-corduroy concert at the Cadogan Hall.