The members of the Scharoun Ensemble play together at least as often as any regular chamber group - the difference is that most of the time there are 60-odd other musicians with them. Named after the architect of the Berlin Philharmonie building, the Ensemble is formed of players from the hall's resident orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic. So a performance by the Ensemble gives an audience the opportunity to witness some of the teamwork that makes the Berlin Phil perhaps the best orchestra in the world.
A charged atmosphere was established from the very opening of Dvorak's G major string quintet, Op 77. By adding a double bass to a regular string quartet line-up, Dvorak opened up a new dimension of possibilities. The cello, freed from its obligation to provide the bass line, is able to take up lyrical melodies, as well as to thicken up the texture of accompanying harmonies, and the presence of the bass brings a weight and gravity that can be felt as well as heard.
But this bottom-heavy scoring didn't hold the Scharoun Ensemble down at all. While the tempo of the second movement may have been laid back, there was plenty of tension. In the two later movements the upper strings in particular showed they had the exact measure of their instruments' capabilities, altering their timbre to produce subtle intimations of light and shade.
Schubert's Octet is a favourite of the Ensemble - it was one of the items in their first ever programme together. Yet in this performance they still managed to make it sound fresh. What impressed more than the high standard of individual musicianship was the way in which the playing of all eight often seemed to stem from a single impulse, exemplified by the breathtakingly taut triplet rhythms in the third movement - it must be all those years spent playing Beethoven's 7th.
The discipline of years of orchestral work did show at times; there was perhaps a hint of reluctance from the players to linger over their solos. There were one or two small blemishes, but these were barely consequential. If the Berlin Phil is indeed full of players like these, then conductor-elect Simon Rattle is in for a treat.
