Strings muted, energies quelled, the Heath Quartet taps into the music’s melancholy …the Heath Quartet brings to Tchaikovsky urgency and a willingness to engage with intensity

The Heath Quartet’s account is rather dry-eyed, stressing the lyrical over the melancholy compared with the Borodin Quartet’s more sentimental reading for Teldec. The Heath’s sound is bright and without undue vibrato, which gives their playing a slightly cool edge for this repertoire

The lovely sense of blend in the opening of the first quartet reflects their experience in Beethoven: there is a beautiful, Germanic warmth to the sound that actually sounds rather un-Russian.

Russian interpreters have tended to dominate this repertoire in the catalogue, so it’s good to hear these outstanding young British musicians in still relatively neglected works...the Heath players pour out Tchaikovsky’s grief for his friend with a depth of tone and virtuosity – in the allegros – that matches the finest Russians on disc. A notable debut.

Tchaikovsky’s contradictions as a composer are neatly captured and untangled here by the Heath Quartet. In the Quartet No 1, the warmth of their playing hits the ear first, but what is really impressive is how naturally they make the changes of pace and mood unfold in the opening movement.

the Heath Quartet address [the First Quartet] with subdued affection in this endearing recording…but joyous moments also abound…the Heaths unleash a healthy exuberance in its Finale, and again in the Third’s puckish Allegretto. They sign off the later quartet with a radiant topping of optimism underpinned by bristling rhythmic energy.

fine ensemble and technical accuracy … If you don’t own a recording of these fascinating quartets, this is a good starting point

These are acutely observed, restrained performances that seem immediately to take the listener to the heart of the music. Without sacrificing the overall architecture and musical argument, details emerge naturally with freshness and vitality: whilst it is difficult to single out any particular highlight, the grave slow movement of the third quartet is remarkable for its depth and concentration,

one of the things I was very impressed by in this performance is that they make this Tchaikovsky sound almost closer to Brahms in some ways…Tchaikovsky’s thought processes are so often undervalued, we get so swept away by the emotion that we don’t realise he was also a very fine musical thinker too…they [the Heath Quartet] show that you don’t have to go overboard to capture that sense of loss of grief