Juggling the Repertoire

When the respected Parisii String Quartet appears Monday at Cal State Northridge in the Music Guild’s chamber music series, the group will serve up a solid traditional menu of Mozart, Beethoven and Ravel.

But that’s only half the story of the French group’s visit to Los Angeles this year.

Just as it did two years ago, the quartet will show its traditional side in the Music Guild series while offering a much more contemporary program at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

At CSUN, the music will be accessible and melodic. Straddling both the contemporary and traditional quartet repertoire has been the musicians’ goal from its beginning in 1984. The four were gifted students at the Conservatoire National Superior de Paris who went on to win competitions in Banff, Munich and Evian in the 1980s, their reputation rising steadily among notable quartets.

“The classical way was very important, and early in the quartet we wanted to play the whole Beethoven cycle,” said second violinist Jean-Michel Berrette. “It was important also to play the French music because we have a very nice repertoire. And the third way was contemporary music because we want to be with the actual music [of our time].”

In an age of specialization, when marketing an image can be an important aspect of defining an ensemble’s identity, groups such as Parisii can seem idealistic. It will be interesting to track their progress on both sides of the musical divide.

“We have a very big repertoire and we work to always go forward,” Berrette said. “We don’t want to say that we only play this certain repertoire and it’s finished for us. We want to continue to move ahead, to work on new things. That’s important for us.”

BE THERE

Parisii String Quartet performs Monday at 8 p.m. at the CSUN Performing Arts Center, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. $24-$5. (310) 552-3030.