String quartet have an eye for fine detail

QUATUOR AGATE LAKESIDE

- By WILLIAM RUFF

ONE of the benefits of having one of the best recital halls in the UK is that Lakeside attracts a seemingly inexhaustible supply of dynamic, award-winning chamber ensembles.

Thursday night's concert was no exception, the most recent visitors being the Quatuor Agate.

When they chose their name, I hope they offered a large bottle of champagne to anyone who could explain why. Apparently it is inspired by the woman who was once muse to the composer Johannes Brahms, but who disappeared from his life when he had to admit that he was one of nature's bachelors.

Quatuor Agate certainly have an eye for fine detail. Their concert included a rarity: the String Quartet No 1 by Erich Korngold, a composer who is perhaps best-known for the music he wrote for swashbuckling Warner Brothers films such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Sea Hawk in the 1930s and 40s.