MUSIC REVIEW : Brodsky Quartet Rises Above Din at the House of Blues

It’s probably safe to say that, before Sunday, the British-based Brodsky String Quartet had never performed in a venue draped with a corrugated metal exterior and dripping with high-tech low-funk-folk decor. One can also assume that string quartet aficionados don’t normally haunt hip rock showcase clubs.

But the twain met when the Brodsky--which attracted a pop following through its collaboration on Elvis Costello’s song set “Juliet Letters”--performed at the House of Blues. Playing all rock venues on their current tour, the group is pursuing a fine and noble ideal: bridging the gap between serious and popular musical presentation.

Unfortunately, music appreciation became a chore due to ceaseless dinner crowd chatter, clangor from the kitchen and the inevitable sonic desecration of a string quartet pumped through a P.A. system. Nuance didn’t stand a chance.

Still, through the peripheral din, the unruffled quartet pulled off a divergent set. When whoops of appreciation followed its aptly feisty reading of Shostakovich, first violinist Michael Thomas responded “you’re not supposed to say ‘whoo.’ You’re supposed to say ‘bravo.’ ”

As if playing to the venue, they relied on a mostly tonal, rhythmically driven repertory, apart from the program’s most interesting work, the Polish Pawel Szymanski’s fractured, neo-Baroque abstraction. Peter Sculthorpe’s two pieces worked a fertile middle ground between head and heart.

The American segment included Copland, Gershwin and that other great American composer, Brian Wilson, whose Beach Boys tune “God Only Knows” enjoyed a sensitive arrangement. Later, we heard Barber’s Adagio--you know, the one from “Platoon.”

Thomas’ own “Harold in Islington” found the violinist in perpetual motion over a grid of accents in a 5/4 meter. Here was an infectious brand of minimalism without the capital-M preciousness.