Quartet's work fresh, lively

VERTAVO STRING QUARTET, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, Thursday

The Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City welcomed the Vertavo String Quartet last Thursday night in a program that featured music by Grieg, Bartok and Mozart.

The foursome — violinist Oyvor Volle, violinist Berit Cardas, violist Henninge Landaas and cellist Bjorg Vaernes — presented a fresh, lively, interesting concert.

Each of the three pieces they played had a distinct personality, and in addition, the Vertavo foursome added a recognizable and distinct personality of their own to all of the music.

It first came through on Mozart's String Quartet in D Major, K.575 — a fresh, clean, light approach to the music.

They have a sense of synthesis that comes of playing together for so long and so frequently, and a young energy that renders their highly polished sound to be elegant without being stuffy.

The Mozart quartet came out light and airy, at times delicate, and even sweet at other times.

Their quartet's personality and the Bartok String Quartet No. 3 turned out to be a great match, especially the way their clean playing really delineated the various textures in the music.

It also meant that some of the more raw, harsh passages were quite pretty (rather than raw and harsh-sounding), but they played with such conviction and energy that their take on it was really very convincing.

The program ended with Grieg's String Quartet in G Minor. Here, the quartet turned its energy to a more passionate, romantic vein in this charming work.

It was an especially appropriate selection, both because this year marks the 100th anniversary of Grieg's death, and the quartet is Norwegian.

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