Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in G major, Op. 77, No. 1
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in G major, Op. 77, No. 2
Wolgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quintet in E-flat major, K. 614

A highly impressive debut recording by the fledgling Rosebud String Quartet. A chamber music ensemble established in 2013 at the Rosebud Chamber Music Festival in Alberta, Canada. Its members, Aaron Schwebel (violin), Concertmaster with the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, Sheila Jaffé (violin), presently viola player for the Canadian Opera Company as well as the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, Keith Hamm (viola), principal violist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and Leana Rutt, teacher and cellist for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, have merged together to become the Rosebud String Quartet. Although from divergent corners of the Canadian classical music scene, they sound as if coalesced from the same musical entourage.

Not only do they inject the music with all the "classical" demeanor it calls for, but they do it with a concerted smile. Their ensemble playing is propelled by rigorous accuracy which is odd when you consider how much personal expressive flair each individual player brings to the group. Each individual entry cuts clearly into the overall sonic textures, and yet everything is dynamically judicious and in perfect balance at all times. For the Mozart Quintet they are bolstered by violist Steven Dann, a viola teacher at the Glenn Gould School in Toronto, as well as a participant in many fine recordings on over a dozen classical music labels. Mozart's elegance and refinement are first and foremost in this eloquent performance, marked by many expressive touches and perceptive dynamic inflections.