Seattle Post-Intelligencer Pacifica Quartet kicks off Beethoven series with dynamic sparkle October 17, 2008 By Philippa Kiraly In its newest venture and to the delight of Beethoven lovers, Seattle Symphony Orchestra this season is presenting all 16 of the composer's string quartets and his "Grosse Fuge" in the intimate Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall. The schedule features six concerts by six groups from four countries. The first concert took place Wednesday night, and if this concert is any indication of the caliber of the series, Seattle is in for a feast. The Pacifica Quartet played three of the quartets: one early one, Op. 18, No 6 in B Flat major, "La Malinconia"; one from Beethoven's middle period, Op. 95 in F Minor, "Serioso"; and one late, Op. 132 in A Minor. It's a format all the quartets will follow. Pacifica is a superb group. Formed in 1994, the musicians are still young, but have honed to a pinnacle the fine art of quartet playing. Their ensemble work is astonishing. More than once I thought one player was playing on two strings, only to realize there were two players whose approach, dynamic and mood in that phrase were identical. The four musicians -- violinists Simin Ganatra and Sibbi Bernhardsson, violist Masumi Per Rostad and cellist Brandon Vamos -- played with an unusually deep attention to nuance, achieved not only with shades of intensity and dynamic but also with a degree of variation in their vibrato, from energetic down to none at all. Their style remained rooted within classical tradition, and even at their most vigorous the players never hacked the music from their instruments. Perhaps it was the slow movements that set Pacifica apart. As they played them, in each quartet this movement seemed the heart of the music. Beethoven was facing his deafness when he wrote the "Serioso" quartet, and seriously ill during the writing of Op. 132. This last is a big quartet of many moods, and at the end of the chordal slow movement there was a striking silence in the audience, no one stirring for a long moment. While all four players drew a singing tone with depth from their instruments, first violinist Ganatra's sound needs mentioning for its sheer beauty throughout. It's hard to quantify. Suffice it to say it shone like the Aurora Borealis in a star-filled sky.