Mendelssohn: String Quartets Nos. 2 & 4 - 4 Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 81

Quatuor Arod (the name comes from Legolas’ horse in The Lord of the Rings) had been playing as a quartet for just four years when they recorded this, but their unanimity of approach takes the breath away. Mendelssohn’s op. 13 was the first quartet they played, and their performance of it is terrific—the way the two violins play as one is astounding. They approach these three quartets with palpable love for the music, and mezzo Marianne Crebassa joins them for a short song to glorious effect.