MUSIC REVIEW : California Chamber Virtuosi Close Malibu Series at Smothers Theatre

Unflagging energy and soulful intensity characterized the performances in Smothers Theatre at Pepperdine University, Malibu, where the California Chamber Virtuosi closed its current series Saturday evening.

Five musicians brought unusual excitement to Schumann’s Piano Quintet, maximizing the score’s inherent drama and suffusing it with tension. Though providing a sense of momentum, this unyielding tension proved fatiguing; one wished for moments of lighter, more subtle playing. The players--violinists Joseph Genualdi and Roger Wilkie, violist Ronald Copes, cellist Peter Rejto and pianist Steven Mayer--do deserve plaudits for a taut, precise reading, and Genualdi for his commanding leadership.

This assertive approach was exactly what Ernst von Dohnanyi’s Serenade for string trio, Opus 10, needed. Folklike charm and skillful string writing make up for the composition’s architectural weaknesses, and Genualdi, Copes and Rejto rendered the work with absolute conviction.

Copes (this time playing the violin), Rejto and Mayer opened the program with an extraordinarily warm reading of Brahms’ Trio, Opus 8. Here was the evening’s most satisfying music making, for the strings produced a liquid sound of the utmost purity, and the pianist delivered his lines with unusual lyricism. Brahms’ arching melodies flowed effortlessly, and though soft-edged in character, this reading was full of vitality.