review of concert on 03/02/03
Taken from The Cambridge Student, 06/02/2003
Isis
Composed in a Silesian concentration camp, Messiaën's Quartet is a haunting religious meditation inspired by the Book of Revelation. The Isis musicians approached the score with reverence, and delivered a highly committed and sensitive account of this wondrous music. Each musician displayed a remarkable finesse, especially in the more ethereal and delicate passages. Their identification with the sadness and spirituality of the piece was total. Cellist James Hopkins in particular reached transcendental heights in the fifth movement, combining purity of tone and expressive range in a rapturous performance. The Isis players gave a deeply moving and, equally important in a work of this length, consistently involving reading. Coupled with an atmospheric performance of MacMillan's Piano Sonata by Simon Smith, this was an outstanding concert. Rarely has the apocalypse sounded so beautiful.
Tom Stammers