Santa Fe Chamber Group Is Unflappable

When latecomers interrupted Mendelssohn’s Piano Quartet No. 2, in F minor, and high-pitched ringing from a hearing aid delayed the Scherzo of Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F minor, the touring members of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival reacted with equanimity and proceeded with undiminished commitment Saturday night at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall.

These were, after all, minor hindrances compared to the last-minute cancellation of violinist Sheryl Staples, who had to substitute for the ailing concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, where she is co-principal. But here, as well, violinist Ida Levin, Ayako Yoshida (Staples’ replacement), violist Scott St. John, cellist Andres Diaz and pianist Jeffrey Swann proved unflappable.

The five musicians brought fire and grace to two consecutive programs, the first given in Founders Hall, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, the second--identical except for the choice of a string trio--at UCLA. With Levin heading up the strings, they disclosed playfulness and lyric emotionalism in the opening work by a 14-year-old Mendelssohn.

On the first evening, the same group, without Swann, knitted together the shifting moods of Ernst von Dohnanyi’s Serenade in C for String Trio, Opus 10, with romantic fervor. On the second concert, Yoshida led the way--a few squeaks not withstanding--in a no-holds-barred, moody reading of Scnittke’s String Trio. Then, as on the previous night, she sat as second violinist in the Piano Quintet, which hurtled forward with heady involvement--dark, urgent and rewarding.