The arrival of new cellist Brook Speltz has done little to change the rich, warm and vital sound of the Escher String Quartet in the middle of their Mendelssohn cycle. Their June release of Quartets 1 and 4 (with cellist Dane Johansen) was widely welcomed; their latest deserves similar praise. They bring real drive to the first movement of No 3 (a mirror to the febrile opening of the Octet), and a lovely, singing intensity to the sweeping minuetto. In No 2, they exploit all the elfin charm of the third movement allegro and display real class in the final presto, carefully delineating all the thematic material that the 18-year-old Mendelssohn has so expertly woven and transformed.
- This review was amended on 14 October 2015 to correctly note the arrival of cellist Brook Speltz to the Escher Quartet
