Sydney’s crème de la crème Utzon Series chamber music season got under way in stylish fashion with a beautifully structured and compelling performance of Beethoven’s own favourite of his 16 quartets, the C sharp minor Op. 131, by the American Calder Quartet.

Making their Sydney debut, and fresh from their appearances at the Perth Festival, the Los Angeles-based ensemble was without its regular second violinist, Andrew Bulbrook, who is on paternity leave and was replaced seamlessly by LA Chamber Orchestra assistant concertmaster Teresa Stanislav.

Nothing was lost in the transition with tight ensemble work and intuitive interplay very much features of this 70-minute recital.

Led by Benjamin Jacobson, the ensemble gets its name from American sculptor and father of the mobile artwork, Alexander Calder, and like their namesake they too pride themselves on being innovative, mixing up the old mainstream repertoire with interesting new works.

For this recital they found the perfect complement to the Beethoven in Swedish composer Per Anders Hillborg’s Korngsgaard Variations. This 2006 work was dedicated to a couple who co-founded the Arietta winery in California whose label features a reproduction of a snatch of Beethoven’s autograph score for the arietta variation theme from the final movement of his Op....