Elias String Quartet - Haydn, Schumann: String Quartets (2012)

This latest release from the Elias String Quartet pairs the last of Haydn's six String Quartets with the first of Schumann's, written as a deliberate shift of his priorities from piano to strings.
It's a fascinating programme: the Haydn features a dazzling presto finale brimming with theatrical gaiety and virtuoso flair, while the Schumann is explored with marvellous collective vigour and sensitivity – the pulsing drive of both the scherzo and the finale disguising the deft lightness of the bowing. Also included is an encore of violinist Donald Grant's own "Lament for Mulroy", a folksy Scottish air featuring a hauntingly lyrical violin line.