Mendelssohn: String Quartets, Opp. 13 & 80; Four Pieces, Op. 81 / Elias String Quartet

77 minutes of compelling string quartet music by Mendelssohn performed by a group inspired by the music.

Review:

The searing intensity of the Elias’s playing lays bare the shock value of these Quartets. The Elias clearly have four powerful personalities at work - how much more they bring out the heart-stopping melodies that seem to flow so effortlessly - apt in the case of Op. 80, given that Mendelssohn wrote it in the wake of his sister Fanny’s death.

– Gramophone