Quartet in C mi Op 51 No 1................. Brahms

"Trout" Quintet ............................Schubert

THE two works on the RTE Vanbrugh String Quartet's programme last Sunday afternoon at the National Concert Hall represent opposite poles of high-quality 19th-century chamber music. Presented as part of the anniversaries of, Brahms and Schubert, this concert featured the former's Quartet in C minor, Op. 51 No. 1, and the latter's "Trout" Quintet.

The Brahms is chamber music at its most intense, setting its sights on the elevated qualities of Beethoven's quartets and striving for a quasi-symphonic range of expression. From the stormy energy of the outer movements to the calculated whimsy of the third, this performance strove well, despite a few rough edges in balance and intonation.

Schubert wrote his "Trout" Quintet for a group of friends and ensured that everyone in its unusual line-up of violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano had something of interest: even the double-bass gets a tune. All the musicians - the Vanbrughs minus the second violin, Malachy Robinson (double bass) and John O'Conor (piano) - produced playing impeccable in all the aspects which really matter in this quintet, such as shaping, melody, timing, response and balance. John O'Conor's flawless judgment in the Scherzo, where thick piano chords are so often overstated, typified a performance which encapsulated the strengths of this charming but by no means lightweight piece.

Yet again it was evident that the NCH's main auditorium is too large for this music (and the hall's John Field Room is too small for the audience). It might seem paradoxical that in this concert the Brahms suffered most. Yet it did in this large space, its striving seemed to beat the air, and it lacked an essential immediacy. Dublin badly needs a specially designed medium-sized venue for chamber music.