Risky, Compelling Tunes Lift Santa Fe Festival Concert

Energetic and powerful performances have long been the defining characteristic of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, which has reached national audiences through its many tours. The latest visit by the 27-year-old festival ensemble--now in its third generation of virtuoso musicians--brought six players to the Irvine Barclay Theatre Tuesday night.

The playing lived up to the festival’s reputation: musically compelling, technically thrilling and with an edge of risk. The excellent young Miami String Quartet, with pianist Max Levinson and violinist-violist Daniel Phillips, were the performers. Their program listed Haydn’s breathtaking Piano Trio in E-flat, Hoboken XV:29, Three Romances by Clara Schumann, the Southern California premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’ “Invocations” (1999) and Mendelssohn’s String Quintet in B-flat, Opus 87.

Palpable excitement marked all the performances, which began with Haydn, at a superlatively high level, and continued through the ebullient Mendelssohnian conclusion. All elements remained under control, yet none of these young masters seemed to be holding back.

Thomas’ new piece, dramatically gripping through its tight, 12-minute length, reiterates the young American composer’s abrasive but somehow accessible style--she confronts listeners with hostility and struggle, yet wins us over. The Miami ensemble gave a passionate, clarifying reading.

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Every element on the program, as it turned out, was a high point. The trio of violinist Ivan Chan, cellist Keith Robinson and pianist Levinson displayed Haydn’s genius while showcasing their own many virtues. Phillips/Levinson brought out the best lyrical qualities in Clara Schumann’s poignant character pieces. And, with Phillips on viola, the ensemble made Mendelssohn’s irresistible quintet as sunny and brimful of feeling as it could be: For the first day of spring, an appropriate greeting.