Exhilarating, exuberant, virtuosic: the Pacifica Quartet has won hearts around the world for its passionate performances. Treading that miraculous line between naked emotion and scrupulous musicianship, a concert with the Pacificas becomes an engrossing sensory experience for the audience.
Although it’s only a little over a decade old, the second quartet by master Australian composer Nigel Westlake fits perfectly in this context, offering players and listeners an enticing palette of lyricism and rhythm.
Shostakovich holds a special place in the life of the Pacifica Quartet. Their recordings of all of his quartet works have few rivals; and their visionary performances of his complete quartet cycle in London's Wigmore Hall were unanimously hailed as outstanding. Shostakovich’s Quartet no 3 reflects the dark days of the USSR, veering between tragedy and satire in music that leaves no listener unmoved.