String quartets on historical instruments? There are only a few ensembles that take this risk, and even fewer that are successful over a longer period of time. The quartet, founded in London in 2005 and led by the well-known violinist Alina Ibragimova, which limits itself to a repertoire up to the early Romantic period, is almost without competition. The eponymous term "Chiaroscuro" - for the dramatic chiaroscuro effects of late Renaissance Italian painting - is actually too short-sighted: it is the wealth of graphic detail that characterizes the group's extremely faithful interpretations. Beethoven's kaleidoscope of strongly contrasting short movements is the ideal demonstration object for the finely hatched tonal speech of this exceptional quartet.