The Grammy-winning ensemble performed for Sarasota Concert Association with pianist Orion Weiss
Joy McIntyre, president of the Sarasota Concert Association, greeted a sparse but enthusiastic audience Thursday night at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, with a quote from Shakespeare’s Henry V, “We few. We happy few. We band of brothers… and sisters,” she added.
According to SCA, about half of those who purchased tickets for the Pacifica Quartet program did not attend because of concerns about the coronavirus. For those who did show, eager to hear the ensemble who appeared in last summer’s Sarasota Music Festival, the Grammy-winning quartet and guest pianist Orion Weiss did not disappoint.
The Pacifica Quartet — Simin Ganatra, first violin; Austin Hartman, second violin; Mark Holloway, viola; Brandon Vamos, cello — opened with Beethoven’s String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4, one of the most popular and the only string quartet set in a minor key. It is filled with drama. Pacifica breathes as one as they begin the first movement, a suspenseful exposition with the first subject in the minor, the second in the brighter relative major key.
The second movement, Scherzo, relieves the tension with an experiment unique for a string quartet of the time. Rather than a slow lyrical movement, Beethoven offers a moderately paced sonata marked Scherzoso and packed with polyphonic play. The third movement, Menuetto, leads to the finale, a spicy rondo based on a “Gypsy” flavored refrain alternating with more lyrical episodes. The major versus minor drama of the entire quartet is encapsulated here with a battle that extends into the final bars of an exciting coda where Beethoven dissolves the drama into humor, nearly making fun of all the histrionics.
The playing is breathtakingly superb, and the performers maintain their own personalities while working together together to conjure a special magic. Engaging not only our ears, but our eyes as well, Pacifica moves as one unit, embodying the music almost to the point where you wouldn’t be surprised if they got up and danced.
Before launching into Gyrgy Ligeti’s String Quartet No. 1, “Metamorphoses Nocturnes,” cellist Brandon Vamos provided some introduction. Composed in 1953–54, this selection is representative of what the composer used to call “the prehistoric Ligeti,” referring to works he wrote before leaving Hungary in 1956.
Vamos called it Ligeti’s “bottom drawer” piece as it was deemed controversial, performances banned under communist regime at the time. While Ligeti was one of the true innovators of the mid-20th century, his music for string quartet has a retrospective quality. The apparent sources for his inspiration are Bartk's famous “night music” movements, particularly in the String Quartet No. 4, which evoke the mysterious fluttering of insects and other eerie nocturnal phenomena. The melodic line, while highly accessible, proceeds in a nervous, jagged fashion, engaging the listener emotionally while keeping him or her off balance intellectually. The performance is at once colorful and metallic of this frenetic and surprisingly humorous masterpiece.
After the intermission, pianist Weiss joined the quartet for Dvorak’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81. Exciting and accessible, the range and breadth of dynamics and tone colors took my breath away. It was a perfect blend of sound that still allows individual members’ contributions to come to the fore when required.
The opening of the piano quintet is a case in point. With its gentle cello melody supported solely by a rocking piano accompaniment it makes for a beautifully hushed opening, and as played here by Vamos it was simply sublime. This is in contrast to moments later, where the players move from digging in with such passionate force that it sounds like their strings are about to snap. In the superbly sustained finale, Dvorak maintains momentum by leaving his themes open-ended, each one leads on to the next with compelling inevitability. The playing is passionate and fun with Weiss mesmerizing us with his sumptuous sound. Pacifica’s performance was as enjoyable to watch as to hear in this thrilling performance.
"exciting" - Google News
March 13, 2020 at 09:35PM
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Pacifica Quartet plays exciting concert for sparse crowd - Sarasota Herald-Tribune
"exciting" - Google News
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