MUSIC REVIEW : Toyko Quartet Plays Mozart

Given the high expectations that attend the Tokyo String Quartet, the many and great joys of the concert Tuesday at the Biltmore Hotel could hardly be considered a surprise. But there is still always an exhilarating shock in the encounter of such superbly integrated artistry.

For their Chamber Music in Historic Sites offering in the Crystal Ballroom, violinists Peter Oundjian and Kikuei Ikeda, violist Kazuhide Isomura and cellist Sadao Harada offered Mozart and more Mozart.

The one rarity--relative, of course--on the agenda was the Quartet in D, K. 575, first of the so-called “Prussian” quartets. Harada applied his mellow, fully articulate sound generously and intelligently to the distinctive cello solos, within a pliant ensemble framework.

In peak form, as it was Tuesday, the Tokyo Quartet presents one of the broadest spectrums of sound in chamber music, from an almost orchestral roar to barely audible but still round and balanced pianissimos. Phrasing is unanimous and subtly inflected, and interpretive risks taken fearlessly.

This gleeful sense of living on the edge brought endless zest and unabashed songfulness to the Quartet in G, K. 387, and an expansive depth to the “Dissonance” Quartet, K. 465. The players seemed to be tiring in the slightly scrambled finale to the latter, but elsewhere maintained the illusion of organic spontaneity with unobtrusive, complete control.