Concert review: Pacifica Quartet masterclass and concert

To a packed house with extra seats on stage, the Pacifica Quartet began the evening at the Bowdoin International Music Festival with Shostakovich’s Second String Quartet. This arresting score was relatively fresh in my memory, after hearing the Jerusalem Quartet traverse its mysteries (reviewed in the July issue). While acknowledging that comparisons are odious, it’s worth noting that the Jerusalem foursome positioned the work at the end of the evening, emphasising its quieter, more enigmatic components. On the other hand, the Pacifica exposed Shostakovich’s knottier corners and created a worthy predecessor to the Beethoven that followed after the interval.

Beethoven’s op.132 is hardly underperformed, and here benefited not only from sheer technical aplomb, but displayed some of the tips imparted during the ensemble’s masterclass earlier in the day. Attention to bow strokes – short or long? – manifested themselves in expressiveness. And the group put into practice the communication skills it had encouraged in its young mentees – skills that are one of the hallmarks of a world-class ensemble. As an unusual encore, the ensemble offered the first of Four Diversions (1930) by Louis Gruenberg, which proved to be an ideal aperitif.

In that lengthy masterclass – almost three hours – the musicians sensitively mentored three young ensembles in works by Mendelssohn, Ginastera and Dvořák. ‘This movement needs a lot of that cinematography,’ they said, referring to the background stories that inspired Ginastera’s First String Quartet. Taking those words to heart, the players implemented their directors’ instructions, creating the string quartet version of ‘movie magic’.

BRUCE HODGES