REVIEW: CLASSICAL Maggie Cole and Friends; Hausmusik London Wigmore Hall, London

Johann Sebastian Bach, Sunday morning coffee and tea-time chamber music proved a welcome diversion from Siberian weather conditions and stampeding shoppers at the Wigmore Hall, a venue eternally reliable in its choice of artists and correspondingly attractive to discriminating audiences. Bach's Collegium Musicum rehearsed and performed in one of Leipzig's trendiest coffee houses, so it was appropriate enough for harpsichordist Maggie Cole and her early musician friends to revive the experience for the Wigmore faithful, even if the complimentary coffee now comes in plastic cups.

Cole and her regular duo partner Catherine Macintosh were on beguiling form in the Cantabile in G major BWV 1019a/l, with the violinist's graceful phrasing enhanced by the most subtle fluctuations in bow pressure and tonal light and shade, an overtly lyrical approach that allowed for rhythmic ebb and flow without apparent interruption to the metronomic tread of Bach's walking bass line. The Cantabile's parent work, the Sonata in G major for violin and harpsichord BWV 1019, inspired the morning's most persuasive artistry, notably from Macintosh in the Largo and Cole in the solo keyboard Allegro, delivered with unwavering commitment and impeccable style. Cole's virtuosity drew deeply on a pristine technique and intelligent musicianship, revealing Bach's contrapuntal lines with a rare lightness; likewise, her violinist partner is blessed with the skills necessary to articulate rhetorical gestures clearly even at the most sprightly of speeds. Macintosh proved at her expressive best in the Adagio of the Concerto in E major for violin and strings BWV 1042, fully exploiting the conflict between despair and hope in Bach's melancholy, profoundly moving music. Aside from a few blemishes in the ripieno group's work, this alert, stylish account of the E major Concerto would surely have pleased Bach himself.

Hausmusik London have done much to lift period-instrument chamber music performances out of the novelty box into the mainstream of concert life, their refreshing interpretations of established repertoire especially welcome. Schubert's Trout Quintet, delivered with great passion and no little wit, offered a memorable curtain-raiser to the composer's bicentenary year, given by an ensemble of characters each with something worthwhile to say and the means to make their respective contributions count. The lyrical approach to the Allegro vivace, elegant refinement of the Trio and rhythmically taught finale were done with intuitive flair, graced by Chi-chi Nwanoku's vivacious double-bass playing and outstandingly fine pianism from Ronald Brautigam.

Mendelssohn's Piano Quartet in F minor, product of the prodigious composer's early teenage years, falls short of Schubert's masterpiece, its youthful energy and obvious romantic passion at times obscured by tiresome sequences and seemingly endless arpeggios. Nevertheless, the work has a strong character, brought to life in this crisp, uninhibited performance. Lingering suspicions that period instruments and expression are mutually exclusive could not survive exposure to Hausmusik's delivery of the Mendelssohn Adagio, with vibrato judiciously used to colour the string sound and heartfelt portamenti spicing Pavlo Beznosiuk's violin playing. Neither could cellist Richard Lester and bassist Nwanoku be accused of po-faced pedantry, mining the infectious humour and sentiment of Rossini's Duetto in D major without apology. The Duetto, composed to satisfy a commission from David Salomons, wealthy financier, one-time mayor of London and, if this piece is any measure, a more than competent amateur cellist, welds together a witty mix of rapid-fire repeated notes, quicksilver scales and ebullient arpeggio figures into a formally cohesive whole, a showpiece designed to bring good cheer. Hausmusik London's work relies on levels of musicianship, teamwork, virtuosity and imagination traditionally associated with the finest conventional chamber ensembles, distinguished further by a winning sense of enjoyment and a shared desire to communicate.