Music and Dance Reviews : Ciompi Quartet in Southland Debut

The good word about the Ciompi Quartet, in residence at Duke University has been seeping westward for several years. On Sunday afternoon the players themselves arrived, courtesy of Chamber Music in Historic Sites.

The Ciompi Quartet takes its name from its founder, the late violinist Giorgio Ciompi. Its members--violinists Bruce Berg and Claudia Bloom, violist Jonathan Bagg and cellist Fred Raimi--withstood the close scrutiny imposed by the intimate salon of the Jeffries House, a World War I-era residence in South Pasadena.

Their program illustrated three stages in the evolution of the string quartet, from Haydn’s statement--via his Quartet in C, Opus 20, No. 2--that each instrument has a right to its place in the sun, although the first violin and cello may shine more brightly; through Mozart and his Quartet A, K. 464, in which the viola is given prominence to rival that of the first violin and the cello; to Beethoven’s “Harp” Quartet in E-flat, in which the second violin is not only fully integral to the proceedings but the blazing star of the dazzling first movement coda.

The musicians gave each work its stylistic due, playing with strong rhythmic profile, elegance of tone--with just enough edginess when Beethoven’s notes begin to fly thick and fast--balanced ensemble and near-faultless intonation.

They also gave a good encore: the curious and attractive minuet from the Fourth Quartet of 20th-Century English composer Frank Bridge.