Unflagging energy and soulful intensity characterized the performances in Smothers Theatre at Pepperdine University, Malibu, where the California Chamber Virtuosi closed its current series Saturday evening.
Five musicians brought unusual excitement to Schumann's Piano Quintet, maximizing the score's inherent drama and suffusing it with tension. Though providing a sense of momentum, this unyielding tension proved fatiguing; one wished for moments of lighter, more subtle playing. The players--violinists Joseph Genualdi and Roger Wilkie, violist Ronald Copes, cellist Peter Rejto and pianist Steven Mayer--do deserve plaudits for a taut, precise reading, and Genualdi for his commanding leadership.
