LOS ANGELES -- The Music Guild scored a big win when it presented the Henschel Quartet in a recent chamber-music concert at UCLA's Schoenberg Hall.

The German group, which is comprised of three siblings (two of whom play Stradivarius violins, the other a supersized viola) and a cellist, first played Mendelssohn's String Quartet, Opus 13 with force and drive, giving the piece a fresh, vital feeling. Later in the program, the Quartet explored Beethoven's Opus 127 with delicacy and precision, capturing its conflicting moods and harmonies with remarkable beauty and emotion.

The Quartet also interpreted Erwin Schulhoff's First String Quartet, which reflects the late Czech composer's grasp of such 20th century influences as jazz and folk music. His death in a Nazi concentration camp was a tragic loss to the music world, as the Henschel Quartet so eloquently reminded us.

Contact the Music Guild at 323-954-0404 or themusicguild.org