Miami String Quartet Soars Together

The lavish Doheny Mansion again revealed its alter ego Friday night as one of the finest sometimes-public chambers in town. In the latest concert of the Chamber Music in Historic Sites series, the Miami String Quartet gathered below the gilded dome ceiling and around a large Art Deco floor lamp, which reminded listeners of the living room aspect of the setting. The ensemble then proceeded to make music of a high order.

In terms of programming, the young and impressively tight quartet steered pretty well down the repertorial middle, relying on the comforts of Haydn, Beethoven and Grieg, played in historical order. The playing was anything but staid, however, as the group ushered in a focused intensity and dynamic sense of purpose that gave the evening a riveting immediacy.

Violinists Ivan Chan and Cathy Meng Robinson, violist Chauncey Patterson and cellist Keith Robinson displayed keen skills individually, but persuasive groupthink was the real hallmark. They brought requisite musicality to Haydn’s Quartet in G, Opus 76, No. 1, with its playful, dynamic twists; Beethoven’s Quartet in F, Opus 135; and Grieg’s Quartet in G, Opus 27, culminating in its feverish dance to the finish.

Staging musicians in-the-round in a close space can heighten intimacy and diminish the boundary between performers and audience--which, in the wrong hands, sometimes can make for a claustrophobic setting. Thankfully, the atmosphere engendered by the Miami String Quartet was a giving, gripping one and made for a fulfilling close encounter.