Zuckerman’s quintet saves its best for last at UNLV

Pinchas Zuckerman, considered among the best of contemporary classical performers, brought his talent, and his string quintet, to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Friday for a quality offering before a small but enthusiastic audience.

The 59-year-old Israeli plays both the violin and viola. He and his group offered three selections, gaining strength as the evening proceeded.

The program opened with "Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7" by Zoltan Kodaly, featuring Zuckerman and his wife, cellist Amanda Forsyth.

The couple worked well together through some challenging chord combinations and bright contrasts. A bright first movement called for alacrity and varied technique all around, leading to a complex, rich second movement and a sometimes atonal and abrupt (but never painful) section leading to a stirring, emotional conclusion.

After a brief break, they returned, joined by violinist Jessica Linnebach, violist Jethro Marks and violist Ashan Pillai, for Felix Mendelssohn's "String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 87." From beginning to end, it showcased the talents of the strings, with the first violin always in the forefront.

Its lovely initial themes moved to a complex andante -- fine, just not as bold as some Mendelssohn -- and to a third movement with deep, often mournful undercurrents, calling forward all the performers' top talents. This led without pause to an upbeat, multifaceted conclusion proving the versatility and range of the five musicians.

This was just a foreshadowing of the excellence to come after intermission with Antonin Dvorak's "String Quintet in E-Flat, Op. 97," which complemented the two earlier works and suggested that the evening could have been even more powerful than it was.

The intensity and the spirit of the piece combined for a cheery tour de force. The quintet did not disappoint, completing the evening with its lively rondo, overlaid with multiple influences for a stirring conclusion.