Gig review: Daniel's beard, Glasgow

The Cottier Chamber Project got off to a sunny start on Friday. Performers and audience mingled in the beer garden till the very last moment, soaking up the early evening warmth, before entering the coolness of the converted church and a kick-off programme in this West End Festival chamber music series that coupled Mozart's Horn Quintet with Brahms's Piano Quintet in F minor.

The performers were the flexible resident ensemble Daniel's Beard. The mood was deliberately relaxed in a venue that goes for the makeshift look, including a piano, carpet square and standard lamps that could easily have been pilfered from the drawing room of a nearby Victorian flat.

A homely quality pervaded both performances, including spoken introductions that ranged from horn player Andy Saunders's helpful thoughts on the Mozart, to violinist Alastair Savage's offbeat comments on the Brahms and its spurious connection with Kilmarnock Football Club!

Mozart's breezy quintet was a triumph of unpretentious team work. Even Saunders – who had already questioned the role of the dominant horn part in his intro – realised beautifully the integrated nature of the writing, convincing us that this is chamber music through and through, and not, as some might have it, a "pocket concerto".

Brahms's hefty piano quintet enjoyed the same spirit of co-operation and plenty moments of thoughtful musicality, despite the modest instrument pianist Linda Cochrane had at her disposal. But as a whole, it didn't always shine so consistently as the Mozart, or for that matter, the glorious evening sunshine.