The Oxford Chamber Music Society’s new season, launched with a recital by cellist Colin Carr, continued with young ensemble the Atrium String Quartet. On paper, this looked like a move from experienced to inexperienced, but as the players walked out on to the platform they quickly dispelled such a notion with their poise, confidence and air of authority. Like so many similar ensembles, the Atrium Quartet was formed while its members were students – in this case, at the St Petersburg Conservatoire – and in their eight years of existence they have hoovered up an impressive collection of prizes and awards.Sunday’s concert embraced an admirably diverse repertoire, from safe old Mozart and Brahms to the unorthodox edginess of Shostakovich, allowing the players to showcase their distinctive brand of youthful vigour and impeccable musicality. It is hard to believe that Mozart was only two years from his death, and in dire financial straits, when he penned the lively and witty Quartet in F Major, the third of the Prussian quartets. The Atriums handled the piece in appropriately playful style, imbuing the work with exuberance and scholarly insight, and clearly relishing the melodic and rhythmic gymnastics.

The Shostakovich was a different matter altogether; the composer’s ninth Quartet, in E flat, is striking in its emotional intensity, from barely contained agitation to moments of extreme ferocity. The opening violin solo – exquisitely rendered by Alexey Naumenko – rose like a plaintive cry, before resolving into a finely drawn solo line by cellist Anna Gorelova. The slow movements were but the calm before the storm; the final movement – wild, powerful and dramatic – was delivered with well-sustained passion to produce a truly spine-tingling performance.

With the Brahms Quintet in G major – for which the Atriums were joined by violist Philip Dukes – peace was restored. After a turbulent opening, this piece was all about elegance, refinement and fun, bringing the afternoon to an uplifting conclusion.