String quartet proves delightful beyond its years By Glenn Giffin Denver Post Arts Critic Thursday, January 10, 2002 - Musically speaking, the 20th century will be remembered for its nurturing of string quartets. As a result, audiences today can hear more of them, and better ones, I suspect, than at any other time in history. And there are some terrific young ones coming along. One of these is the Pacifica String Quartet, not yet 10 years old, with a zest for performance that carries a listener along breathlessly, passionately. The PSQ performed Wednesday evening as part of the Friends of Chamber Music series. The performance was in the Corkin Theatre at the Houston Fine Arts Center in Denver. With performers like these, even the thorniest of technical demands are just part of the fun of it all. This was certainly suggested in their performance of Gyorgi Ligeti's Quartet No. 1, "Metamorphoses Nocturnes." That title, of course, suggests Bartok's excursions into "night music," and some wags call this Bartok's Seventh Quartet. But Ligeti has much more humor in his writing - a loopy waltz section, and another place where the violist swoops through the notes rather than hits them - not forgetting its seriousness, either. This was the centerpiece of the evening in terms of daring, originality and sheer nerve. The quartet, Simin Ganatra and Sibbgi Bernhardsson, violins; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; and Brandon Vamos, cello, have achieved a startlingly unified performance style. Their interpretations also have a unanimity of outlook and purpose. These may change with age, perhaps even deepen, but they stand as they are with considerable integrity. This quality could be found in the outer works of the program, Mendelssohn's Quartet in A Major, Op. 13, and Beethoven's Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132. The former is part of Mendelssohn's astonishing teenage output, but modeled on Beethoven's example, and so lacking the effervescent adolescent joy of the octet or scherzo from "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The Beethoven, of course, comes from the end of that composer's life in fullest maturity. Good program, superb performances - get this foursome back soon!