The Pacifica Quartet recently ended its 2010–2011 season with a month-long tour to Europe and Asia. One of the cities the group was most eager to visit was post-tragedy Tokyo, a city other performers struck from their list.
“We had intended to go — you know, we’d known about the trip for over a year, at least. And when things happened, people started canceling their trips to Japan and, of course, we did think about it,” said cellist Brandon Vamos. “We didn’t know what the situation was going to be like or if it was going to stabilize but we really hoped that it would work out. We feel strongly, especially at a time like this, that music is important.”
According to Vamos, Tokyo, which is miles from the quake’s epicenter and the Fukushima nuclear crisis, seemed “relatively unscathed.” Despite the fires and transportation problems that occurred during the earthquake, Tokyo, like much of Japan, has made great efforts to repair itself.
“When we were in the hotel where we stayed, there were some cracks in the walls that we noticed that had been patched up,” Vamos said. “People in Japan are very careful about things. In Tokyo, especially, everything is so earthquake safe, and it withstood the earthquake very well.”
Besides surviving catastrophe, Japan was special for another reason. The repertoire for Tokyo consisted of the full Beethoven quartet cycle, totaling five concerts in three days.
“I remember thinking, ‘That’s kind of crazy.’ But the more we thought about it, the more excited we were about the prospect of doing it. I mean, we’d played all of the Beethoven quartets, and we have for years, and we’ve done the cycle over the span of a year,” Vamos said. “I guess we just thought it would be interesting in a very short period so that people can really experience ... what a great variety there is in [Beethoven’s] music and [to] hear them close together.”
After dazzling festival audiences and concertgoers overseas, the quartet has yet another reason to look forward to the end of the season. The Pacifica Quartet have replaced the long-standing Guarneri String Quartet as artist in residence at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The respected quartet retired last fall.
“We feel honored to have such a great series and such a great venue,” Vamos said. “It’s been a great place to play in and we’ve certainly enjoyed the audience there.”
The Grammy Award–winning performers are currently recording the Shostakovich quartet cycle, which they will take to the Met and to London’s Wigmore Hall. The quartet will also perform in the upcoming Ottawa Chamber Festival on Aug. 5 and in Napa Valley Aug. 10–12.
The group will always remember their summer tour, especially Tokyo, and looks forward to the 2011–2012 season.
“We were really thankful that everything worked out and we were able to make the trip,” Vamos concluded.