What an ideal companion for the Schubert

What an ideal companion for the Schubert.”And what an ideal companion for the Voces is Martin Lovett, who continues to amaze with his pristine cello technique Has he any thoughts of retiring? “Not at all,” he says. Having said that, it hasn’t been played in London since its premiere in 1946. But one can see from the writing that two cellos fit the music very well, as the Brahms scholar Sebastian Brown realised, and that’s why he reconstructed the work as a quintet. “It’s just a favourite piece of music of so many people, and rightly so, because it is a sublime work.

But, sadly, it’s one of the very few top- notch string quintets to employ a pair of cellos and so we’re attempting to add to that repertoire by also giving the Brahms Op34 Piano Quintet in an all-string transcription.”"Brahms, in point of fact, originally conceived the piece as a string quintet and Clara Schumann was very fond of that version, but, for some reason, he destroyed his first thoughts and the piece later emerged as a piano quintet. Then, there is something about this Romanian sound which is difficult to quantify, but is simply different to the standard western European quartet timbre. Perhaps something more rugged, more intrepid – one certainly can’t fault the emotional commitment of the Voces, either. To my mind, they always set out wanting to penetrate right to the heart of the music.”
The Voces air their talents, firstly, in Haydn’s Op74 No1 quartet and, after the interval, Lovett joins them as second cello for Schubert’s great Quintet in C, D 956 “What can one say about the Schubert?” he asks rhetorically. “I first became aware of them in the early 1980s when the Amadeus Quartet became mentors of the Voces at the Cologne Hochschule fur Musik and have remained a committed fan and kept in touch ever since.” Why? “Well, for a start, I believe they are very fine musicians – technically brilliant, well balanced and with a highly sharp ensemble. “For far too long the situation in Romania didn’t permit this fine quartet to gain the worldwide recognition they so obviously deserve,” says Martin Lovett. However, though the quartet – all graduates of the Georges Enescu Academy – may be celebrating their silver jubilee this spring, the Wigmore date still forms a belated London debut.

The concert, promoted by the Park Lane Group, simultaneously marks the PLG’s 25th Anniversary and that of the Voces Quartet who gave their debut concert on 8 April, 1973. Annie joins Simon Hopkinson on the shortlist for 1998 Newspaper Cookery Writer of the Year, while Patrice is nominated for the Visual Award. Anthony Rose is also shortlisted for Wine Writer of the Year, and Michael Jackson is nominated for Drink Writer of the Year.. It is, perhaps, not often that a legendary chamber musician openly endorses the virtues of another ensemble, but that state of affairs prevails in the Wigmore Hall this week when Martin Lovett, cellist of the great Amadeus Quartet, joins the Voces String Quartet of Romania (right) in two string quintets. Make the dressing by whisking the balsamic vinegar with seasoning and adding the oil.Assemble all the salad ingredients on a large plate or individual ones.

Pour over the dressing and accompany with the croutonsThe Hive, 53 Webb’s Road, London SW11 (0171-924 6233); Fauchon honey is available from Selfridges, Oxford Street, London W1Annie Bell and Patrice de Villiers have both been nominated for Glenfiddich Awards for their work together on these pages. Heat enough oil in a frying pan to shallow-fry the croutons and cook them on either side until they are the consistency of fried bread Drain on kitchen paper. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the beans, bring back to the boil and simmer for four or five minutes until they are just tender, then drain and refresh them in cold water. Remove and allow to cool.In the meantime, boil the eggs for eight minutes, then cool in cold water, shell and halve them. Place the tomatoes cut-side up in a roasting dish, drizzle over some olive oil and the honey and season them. Roast for three hours, by which time they should be intensely flavoured and halfway to being dried. Cover with clingfilm and chill for several hours, but not overnight – it’s a trifle that needs to be eaten quite fresh.