Concert Review—

Young Quartet Was A Delight

For Newtown Audience

By Richard Serbagi

On the afternoon of February 22 The Pacifica String Quartet performed at Edmond Town Hall with a musical confidence and understanding that rightfully belong only to the most seasoned of string players.

Playing to a sophisticated audience assembled at Newtown’s town hall, the four young artists presented a program reflecting youthful passion delivered with exquisite technique and artistry.

The concert opened with the popular Quartet in E-flat, Opus 74, composed by Beethoven in 1809. It was nicknamed “The Harp,” not by the composer himself, but by his followers, probably for the pizzicato arpeggios in the first movement.

Before 1809 pizzicato had not been so melodically included in string compositions. Beethoven works characteristically combine powerful rhythmic passages along with the composer’s great sense of magical lyricism.

The elements were captured to perfection by the sensitivity and leadership of first violinist Simin Ganatra, who seems to propel the quartet to artistic heights not frequently heard in such a young ensemble.

Especially moving and breathtaking was the slow movement, marked “Adagio, ma non troppo,” a passage of intense spirituality. The audience reacted in utmost awe with pin-drop silence for the superb musicianship in this long movement and shouted its approval at the conclusion of the six variations that bring this piece to a rousing conclusion.

The second work, magnificently performed, was the powerful transitional Quartet No 3 by Paul Hindemith, a long-time professor of music at Yale and the author of a large number of pedagogical works still in use today. The work is a combination of forms including lyricism and the baroque, sonority and the romantic, translucent techniques of the impressionist, and the thunderous qualities of the 20th Century.

Outstanding were violist Masumi Per Rostad and cellist Brandon Vamos, who steered the quartet with clear musical intent, supported by both the first and second violinist, Sibbi Bernhardsson.

Mr Bernhardsson, who hails from Iceland, spoke to the audience and introduced the early 20th Century composer Hindemith, drawing the attention to a number of surprising selections in the music.

Last on the program was Mendelssohn’s Quartet in D Major. This work was, by the composer’s own admission, his favorite.

The communication between the two violinists, supported by viola and cello, transported the listener. There are few quartets that play with such a clear conviction of a musical idea and the technique and heart to create an afternoon so beautiful.

The nearly full house gave the artists a standing ovation and lingered to congratulate them and speak with them after the concert. There were many requests to “have them back again, soon.”

(Richard Serbagi is the music director of Concert Society Chamber Orchestra.)