Aroha Quartet in Near and Far(r), St Andrew's in the City, Wednesday, November 20. Reviewed by Stephen Fisher.

With their highly imaginative programming, the Aroha String Quartet can be relied upon to present a programme of great audience appeal, and Wednesday night's recital, in the very warm acoustics of St Andrew's, was no exception.

Featuring Haihong Liu and Blythe Press on violins, Zhongxian Jin on viola and Robert Ibell on the cello, the quartet play with great rapport and an undoubted sensitivity towards the music of each other.

Their programme opened with a wonderfully sparkling rendition of Mozart's rarely heard first string quartet, with Gareth Farr's 'Mondo Rondo' and Zhou Long's 'Eight Chinese Folk Songs' completing the first half. Farr's work is marvellously colourful, given a splendid performance heightened by some marvellous dynamics and balance and interplay between these performers. The Chinese folk songs were passionate, again given a deeply committed performance, the players obviously enjoying the performance as much as the audience.

The second half featured a dramatic performance of Shostakovich's 'Two Pieces for String Quartet', and a commanding performance of Debussy's String Quartet in G minor, which beautifully captured the enormous emotional demands of the work, ensuring that this was indeed a concert to savour.

We can look forward to the Quartet's appearance in the City as part of Chamber Music New Zealand's 2014 Kaleidoscope season.