'Focused, skilled, and ready for anything…here the Heath Quartet's prayerful concentration really paid off in a performance of unforced beauty and tremulous tension, dappled with sudden shadows and anguished nostalgia for happier times. Each player listened closely to each other; each fell in with Schubert's feelings as a hand fits the perfect glove.'

THE TIMES, JANUARY 2012

 

'The subtlety of the first violin’s playing as it floated radiantly to the end of Bedford’s piece also distinguished the other works on the programme. The Heath Quartet opened with a graceful performance of Beethoven’s “Harp” Quartet, Op.74, which had just enough muscle where required. Then, after the Bedford, came the elegiac beauty of Schubert’s “Rosamunde”

Quartet in A Minor, D804, where the first violin melodies again sang with such understated eloquence that the fuller colours of the lower instruments almost (but never quite) started to dominate…'

FINANCIAL TIMES, DECEMBER 2011

 

'The Heath Quartet tackled the complete Beethoven string quartets in ten late-night concerts at Greyfriars Kirk, giving passionate performances that combined technical accomplishment with interpretative flair…The Heath players' Quartet in D major op.18 no.3 ranged from joyful radiance to serene tranquility, with cellist Christopher Murray injecting just the right amount of spirit into the performance. Their Harp Quartet op.74 was stately and elegant, full of rustic charm and scurrying inner parts, delivered with character by second violin Cerys Jones and viola Gary Pomeroy, and they gave a clear-minded reading of op.135 in F major with a gleeful second movement and wonderfully restrained, glowing third.'

THE STRAD, NOVEMBER 2011

 

'The unforced musicality and refined, unfussy style of the Heath Quartet…remarkable pianissimo playing, so even-toned and intimate.'

HALIFAX COURIER, NOVEMBER 2011

 

'The Heath Quartet contrasted the String Quartet in D, Op.18 No.3 with the later Harp Quartet, Op.74, in joyful, passionate playing that gripped from start to finish.'

THE EDINBURGH REPORTER, AUGUST 2011

 

'The string quartet's sound is uncannily well blended, each of the four players exceptionally well-matched…their palette box of shading, dynamics and nuance in shifting mood seemed to know no end.'

THE SCOTSMAN, JULY 2011

 

'One of the best it has been my privilege to attend: it was played with such intelligence and commitment...a fantastic performance! [Bruckner string quintet, with Adam Newman, viola]'

THE BRUCKNER JOURNAL, MARCH 2011

 

'It was a performance exceptional in its perception, alive to every detail...'

THE HERALD, DECEMBER 2009

 

'This was a very fine performance indeed, the long slow movement [Beethoven Op.132] finding these players as one, and at the top of their impressive form. This performance surely marks out the Heath Quartet as being one of the finest of their generation.'

MUSICAL OPINION, DECEMBER 2008

 

'The Heath Quartet displayed a rare musicality…a keen interpretive insight combined with refined playing, this is one of the most interesting young quartets I have heard in recent years.'

THE STRAD, SEPTEMBER 2007

 

'...the music's potency and bravura were conveyed with thrilling conviction.'

THE GUARDIAN, JANUARY 2007