Russia's Borodin Quartet, the most senior quartet ensemble in the world (Guinness Book of World Records) is in New Zealand and will perform throughout the country between the 6th and 19th of March. The quartet maintains and preserves its focus on the core masterpieces of the quartet repertoire, and its style and dedication to the wishes of the composers and the collaborative spirit of chamber music through member transitions. The quartet’s violist Igor Naidin explains; “A quartet is in a permanent state of studying from each other. Learning while performing with your elder colleagues.”  This is how the quartet has maintained its distinct identity.

The quartet began performing in 1945 as Quartet of the Moskow Philharmonic, famously performing at the funerals of both Stalin and Prokofiev on the same day. After a decade the quartet took on the name Borodin Quartet to honour the first great Russian composer to master the quartet form. During the 1970's the ensemble had a change of two members. The next two decades saw them accepted internationally as one of the world’s most renowned ensembles, revered for their authority in Shostakovich and Beethoven, and with the end of the Soviet system in 1989 their touring schedule intensified immensely. After their 50th anniversary celebrations in 1995 there was another two member change. Then, in 2007 the cellist handed over his place to one of his students, passing away a year later. Violinist Andrei Abramenkov is the oldest current member of 36 years with violist Igor Naidin and violinist Ruben Aharonian who joined in the 90's and Vladimir Balshin who replaced the late cellist in 2007.

Eamonn Kelly of The Australian reviewed the quartet's concert at Murdoch Hall in Melbourne last month and said it was “an all-Russian program that emphatically demonstrated the ensemble's disciplined, nuanced and intimate approach to sound production and musical narrative” noting “a steady focus on sound quality and luxurious tone, thanks to outstanding bow control: even contact, perfect weighting, precise placement, and effective bow-speed changes. This technique gives the sound depth and conviction, allowing vibrato to serve its true purpose as an expressive tool.” Kelly noted that the “Phrasing and ensemble were near faultless while control over dynamics, timbre and balance was by far the best I've heard in this brutally exposed acoustic.” He called it “an ensemble that does not have a weak link” saying “there was no doubting the lively musical intellect at work, the attention to detail, and that magical depth of sound quality that so few ensembles currently possess.”

Lynne was born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, in 1944. She holds a BA in English Literature; graduated with distinction from Wellington Teachers’ College, where she also studied art. Among her interests she lists her love of teaching, travel, sport, reading, crossword puzzles, music and choir singing, stage production, theatre, genealogy, gardening and creative knitting for her seven grandchildren.  With her husband, John, she has explored many parts of the globe and in her first published book, Colours of the Mediterranean, Lynne has found a way to combine some of the driving forces in her life such as travel and music with her love of writing. She finds it hard when asked to classify the book as either ‘art’ or ‘travel’, but explains that the 169 unique watercolour and ink illustrations in the book evolved from a need to record on the trot what she had seen and done while in Sicily, Crete, Malta, Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey. The book is anecdotal, appealing to art lovers and travellers alike. Lynne feels there is not enough time in one lifespan to do all the things you would wish to do, and there are always many new corners to explore and adventures to run. - www.publishmeshop.co.nz

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
This is really a nursery to uni experience. Read and re-read to me by my father as a child, I loved the fantasy of such exotic travel that put a tall person among the Lilliputians. Only later, at Victoria University, did the irony of this satirical novel being best known as a child’s story become clear. My favourite was then the fourth section with the Houyhnhnms as horses holding power over the yahoos or humans.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
I discovered as a teenager that my great-grandmother, who lived in Guernsey during Hugo’s exile there, was a translator of Les Miserables from French to English. I have strong Huguenot connections on one side of the family and French Revolutionary tales on the other. The whole story was an epic read then, but took on an even greater significance when it became the hit musical and I re-read it.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding
This book is just as relevant today as it was during my idealistic years at teachers’ college. The slide of civilisation to savagery by the marooned boys’ self-rule is brought to mind repeatedly in the power struggles played out around the world. When written in the ‘50s, the Cold War loomed and thoughts turned to order and reason versus destruction, and the need to control through power. Sound familiar?