ASQ heralded in Köln, Germany

The girls jetted off on another international trip this month, performing in Köln, Germany. They've returned home with more than just the luggage they left with, having picked up two very complimentary reviews from their performance of Mendelssohn Quartet in E flat Op.12, Brett Dean Epitaphs for String Quintet, with Brett Dean (viola) and Bruckner Viola Quintet in F major:

Sophie Rowell and Anne Horton (violins), Sally Boud (viola) and Rachel, Johnston (cello) had opened the night with an enormously passionate performance of Felix Mendelssohn String Quartet in E flat major (op. 12). The waves of the Romantic period surged in homogenous ebb and flow,and dark colours - and it became apparent very quickly that here at work were masters of their craft (Kölnische Rundschau, 18.9.2010)

Throughout, the string sound was lightly muted, with life and warmth emanating from the inner voice, contributed to in no small part by the noble restraint of the first violinist. The four players dealt in marvellous style with the awkwardly positioned, evasive motifs of the scherzo and finale, i.e. with what we in the Rhineland call Knibbelsarbeit - fiddly work (Kölnische Rundschau, 21.9.2010).