Review | Chiaroscuro Quartet’s playing of Beethoven and Schubert a revelation in Hong Kong debut

Quartet notable for using gut strings open HKU MUSE festival with concert full of arresting detail and captivating use of light and shade

Reading Time:3 minutes

The Chiaroscuro Quartet perform in their debut concert in Hong Kong. Their use of gut strings brought a fresh sound, and brought out some intriguing details, in their playing of quartets by Beethoven and Schubert at the University of Hong Kong on March 1, 2025. Photo: cemwi@hkumuse

Published: 5:15pm, 4 Mar 2025

Rarely do string quartets perform works of the Classical period and beyond on pure gut strings. These are made with fibres extracted from either sheep or cow intestines and one associates them with early instruments used for the performance of Baroque music of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The customary choice for later works is “modern” strings that are wound with steel; these are less prone to temperature changes while producing enough sound to fill larger spaces.

Despite the challenges in regard to tuning, gut strings indisputably have special qualities. In their performance of quartets by Beethoven and Schubert for the opening of Hong Kong University’s MUSE Chamber Music Festival on March 1, the Chiaroscuro Quartet not only proved their command of intonation on gut strings, but also captivated listeners with a dramatic use of light and shade.

The quartet, named after the art term for strong contrast in light and shade, was founded in 2005 and is made up of violinist Alina Ibragimova, second violinist Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux, violist Emilie Hörnlund and cellist Claire Thirion.

The Chiaroscuro Quartet, comprising (from left) violinists Alina Ibragimova and Benjamin Marquise Gilmore, violist Emilie Hörnlund and cellist Claire Thirion. Photo: cemwi@hkumuse

For their Hong Kong debut, British violinist Benjamin Marquise Gilmore replaced Saluste-Bridoux, and the quartet adopted a vibrato-free approach for the most part, aside from the odd addition of “wobble” to warm some of the higher lyrical passages.