The Strad Recommends: Tabea Zimmermann: Britten, Enescu

THE STRAD RECOMMENDS 

The Strad Issue: February 2026

Description: An eloquent pairing of works is magnificently brought to life

Musicians: Ensemble Resonanz/Tabea Zimmermann (viola)

Works: Britten: Lachrymae. Enescu: String Octet

Catalogue number: HARMONIA MUNDI HMM902737

Enescu was a remarkable instrumental prodigy and an equally dazzling composer: this highly accomplished Octet, performed in the version for string orchestra, was written when he was only 19. Certainly, the level of facility demonstrated here is reminiscent of Mendelssohn’s early masterpiece, offering striking melodies and adept scoring.

This performance does everything to maximise the qualities in invention, with deftly sculpted unison phrasing in the opening. Core influences of Brahms, Wagner and Enescu’s teacher Fauré percolate through all four movements, although Enescu’s individual voice is also evident with each section contrasted in character and timbre: muted in the ‘Même temps’, fantastically scampering in the ‘Moins vite’ and portraying an almost operatic level of drama in the concluding ‘Très marqué’. Incisive articulation and imaginative colouring make this performance a triumph.

The version of the Lachrymae for solo viola and string orchestra featured here, based on Dowland’s song ‘If my complaints could passions move’, was one of Britten’s last works. As ever, the composer’s economy of means makes each note central to the narrative – a concept Tabea Zimmermann lucidly delivers, her renowned artistry and honeyed tones creating a powerful reading.

She evokes a dark yet shimming opening, enticing us through delicate and vulnerable fragments of the melody. An ethereal Valse is followed by a distinctly edgy Marcia. A furious insistency defines moto perpetuo style in the L’istesso tempo, punctuated by melodic whispers, before the Dowland song fully reappears in the closing cameo, Zimmermann’s simple yet sensitive reading rendering it quite exquisite.

JOANNE TALBOT