★★★★½ Crack British outfit launches Sydney Opera House’s chamber music series.

The Studio, Sydney Opera House
March 20, 2016

Sydney’s popular Utzon series launched into 2016 with a move round the corner from the usual venue and a substitute on second violin. None of this mattered as the Navarra Quartet is one of Britain’s finest younger ensembles and what the Opera House’s Studio lacks in Harbour views compared with its near neighbour the Utzon Room, it more than makes up for in excellent acoustics. The music didn’t suffer either with the absence on maternity leave of Marije Johnston. Donald Grant, from the Elias Quartet, filled in admirably, a natural fit alongside leader Magnus Johnston, violist Simone van der Giessen and cellist Brian Kane in a programme which ranged from some teenage Mozart to the disturbingly beautiful sound world of Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, culminating in a vibrant performance of Ravel’s Quartet.

The Navarras have been lauded for their poetic interpretations since they formed at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2002, picking up a swag of awards on the way. They worked closely with such mentors as the Alban Berg Quartet and ProQuartet in Paris and had residencies at...