MUSIC REVIEW : Opening of Chamber Festival

The third annual Chamber Music/LA Festival got going Sunday afternoon at Japan America Theatre. The whole festival this year has been dedicated as a tribute to the late Jascha Heifetz, and the assembled cast of musicians--most of them connected with the legendary violinist in some way--mingled musical generations as one result.

Violinist-director Yukiko Kamei also has tried to program repertory associated with Heifetz. Her product Sunday was the sort of strong, varied bill that can give eclecticism a good name.

At the center was Kodaly’s infrequently heard Duo, Opus 7. Largely a quirky, jerky effusion of stop-and-start impressionistic Magyarisms, the Duo is nonetheless a big, serious work that demands big, serious playing.

The performance that it received from violinist Christiaan Bor and cellist Laurence Lesser was certainly serious enough, somber and calculated almost to the point of faceless abstraction. But it also proved big enough in rich sound and committed ensemble to overcome the unduly reserved rhetoric.

The concert began with a fiery “Sunrise,” Haydn’s Quartet in B-flat, Opus 76, No. 4. Though Haydn is often credited with bringing independence and equality to the other three members of the ensemble, this vigorous, outgoing quartet is thoroughly dominated by the first violin.

Appropriately then, Kamei carried the burden with blazing zeal. Her fleet, heated playing never lost control, despite its intense athleticism, remaining well-focused in tone and purpose.

Kamei’s work did not distort balances, either. Bor, violist Milton Thomas and cellist Nathaniel Rosen provided supportive interaction, not supinely deferential accompaniment.

Mendelssohn’s passionate Trio in D minor closed the program. Kamei and Lesser played the string parts with expressive tension and brio. Longtime Heifetz accompanist Brooks Smith gave the busy piano part the full benefit of his experience, contributing graceful solos and keeping pace with his colleagues, albeit at the cost of an occasional clinker.

Kamei and Bor also offered three of Bartok’s Duos, in nimble readings.