Angeles String’s Stirring Mixes

The Angeles String Quartet brandished an abundance of technical expertise Tuesday night at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, displaying the level of virtuosity and synchrony one has come to expect after nine years.

But as impressive as the foursome’s skill is, it is the level of commitment and the ability to communicate that distinguish the group. For this event--jointly sponsored by the Laguna Chamber Music Society and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County--violinists Kathleen Lenski and Steven Miller, violist Brian Dembow and cellist Stephen Erdody conveyed purpose and a sense of emotional involvement in three stylistically diverse works.

During the reading of Schubert’s Quartet in D minor, D. 810--subtitled “Death and the Maiden” because the composer based the second-movement theme and variations on his song of that name--they balanced passion and control, engaging in fiery exchanges and stirring solos couched in subtle shades and rhythmic point.

Finespun detail enlivened their contemplative interpretation of the Quartet in D minor, Opus 42, by Haydn. Ideas developed with a feeling of inevitability, passed among the players with clarity and directness.

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The musicians also supported one another in a tension-filled, aggressive performance of Erich Korngold’s Quartet No. 3, Opus 34. Indulging in strong contrasts and mounting unilateral attacks, they balanced its late-Romantic, angst-filled vocabulary with its frankly accessible melodies, borrowed from scores that the Austrian emigre wrote for Hollywood. Members of the Angeles displayed a level of intimacy, reflective of work that went into putting it on a CD for the Koch International label. They are also in the midst of recording all of the quartets by Haydn, in a five-year recording project for Philips Classics.