The Maggini Quartet

Review in Spalding Guardian on 7 December 2000

"Performance a fusion of beauty and power

The Maggini String Quartet gave a world-class performance of works by Haydn, Bliss and Beethoven on Saturday.

The audience in the South Holland Centre, Spalding, was treated to exquisite playing in Haydn's Emperor Quartet: crisply dynamic in the opening movement, through every level of soft playing in the second to furious phrases interspersed by elegant melodies in the finale.

The award-winning ensemble concluded the first half of the South Holland Concerts' programme with a work by Sir Arthur Bliss.  Written in 1914 in the early part of his career, the unfamiliar quartet was engagingly played.

The first movement featured effective pizzicato moments, while the second was full of ease with lyrical gestures.

After the interval, Beethoven's Opus 127 delighted the audience.  The understanding between all four musicians was a joy to experience.

The performance was a fusion of beauty and power.

The third concert in the season will be held at 7.30pm on Saturday January 20, featuring tenor David Curry in the South Holland Centre.

R. THOMPSON"

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