MUSIC REVIEW : Solid Outing From Croatian Ensemble

I Solisti di Zagreb, the chamber ensemble from Croatia, has been together since 1953 and has criss-crossed the globe countless times since then. Never before in its history, though, has the very mention of its homeland stirred up such loaded associations, of unrest and uncertainty.

Friction--political or aesthetic--was the furthest thing from anyone’s mind when the 15-member group came to perform at the Smothers Theatre at Pepperdine University in Malibu on Tuesday. If there were a political theme to be extracted here, it might be one of democracy in action. For almost 25 years, this has been an ensemble without a conductor, drawing on only the subtlest of cues from concertmaster Tonko Ninic.

The sight of a long row of formally dressed string players in a semi-circle, with no one at the helm, is almost disorienting. Yet the players seem no worse for the lack of a maestro. The string ensemble, with the occasional addition of a keyboard, is a tight, cohesive unit, with a fat, resonant sound.

The no-surprise program focused on such familiar pleasures as Bach’s Concerto for Three Violins, a work of Pergolesi and Grieg’s Baroque-leaning “Holberg” Suite for the first half. To close, the group served up some audience-friendly Britten, a la “Simple” Symphony, Opus 4, a piece from his pre-rebellious youth.

This is not a shy, retiring, or even especially subtle group. The players plunge into musical matters at hand with a collective bravura, a boldness of attack and ensemble texture that borders on coarseness.

But the galvanic energy force proved to be infectious, especially when the group attended to the robust, post-romantic contours and Slavic flavor of Martinu’s Sextet for Strings. Here, the players seemed right at home, locating the sympathetic middle ground between Eastern and Western European sensibilities.