Pacifica Quartet shows why it's gaining fame February 22, 2000 By Sherman Spencer The Pacifica Quartet was a pleasure to watch and a revelation to hear. The members form such an attractive group and play with such intramural rapport and visible involvement in their music making that the resulting sound of their superlative performances seems almost an added bonus. A relatively new ensemble, formed in 1994, the Pacificans already have won some important national awards. Their opening work, Beethoven's C minor Quartet, Op. 18, no.4, proved a particularly engaging listening experience. This early quartet, strongly influenced by Haydn and Mozart, abounded with buoyancy and spirit.Perhaps the most salient feature of the Pacificans' presentations is their wide, but subtle, dynamic variation played with absolute unanimity of ensemble. This approach lends itself particularly to the robust and lighthearted nature of the Beethoven quartet. The strongly accented measures of the Menuetto and the rapid scale passages of the Allegro had clarity and effectiveness often missed in other interpretations. The program's major attraction was Ligeti's String Quartet No.1. Composed in 1953 while Hungary was still under Soviet domination, it represents the antithesis of the approved Communist musical style. The composer was strongly influenced by Bartok and Stravinsky as well as by Berg's serial approach to composition. The quartet, with its eight movements played as a continuum, mingles many moods, unusually rhythms and harmonies and striking auditory effects. At one point, the cellist snaps a string so briskly it produces a sound like a stick breaking. It proves a challenging work to perform and to communicate to an audience. But it was a challenge most successfully met by these young artists. They played it with an understanding, commitment and verve that was totally infectious. The audiences loved it! In its final offering, the quartet played the flowing melodies and Slavic accents of Dvorak's Quartet in G major, Op. 106 with sensitivity and musicality. Throughout the concert, the quartet played with beautifully balanced ensemble and, in those works that permitted their individual voices to be heard distinctly, they demonstrated elegant solo capabilities. They're a first-rate ensemble.