Fab four string their way Down Under

Four gifted Israeli musicians are playing nine concerts in this country. HEATH LEES hears how they juggle career, conscription and tours.

It's 10 am in Israel and Amichai Gross, violist with the Jerusalem String Quartet, is rehearsing already. But he has left his mobile on, so when I ring as arranged, the others disappear fast for an early coffee.

"I'm not the only one who speaks English," Gross explains, "but I'm the one who speaks it with others."

At a mere 21, Gross is the youngest of the group but, in the professional string quartet world, they're all hardly more than children.

Alexander Pavlovsky is leader on account of his skill and advanced years - 24 - while second violinist Sergei Bressler and cellist Kyril Zlotnikov are each 23. In their casual photograph they remind you of the confident dazzle of the Beatles in the mid-60s.

Although they're unusually young, the quartet is not brash. You can tell that just by listening to the CD issued with the BBC Music Magazine in 1999, when they were even younger.

Haydn's "Sunrise" quartet sounds warm and romantic, and the Shostakovich "War" quartet has a boltingly fast second movement, but otherwise the depth of the interpretation is unchallengeable.

"It's because we started so early," says Gross. "At high school we began playing as a quartet - I was only 13 then - and we've stayed together."

When Alexander became eligible for conscription into the Israel Defence Forces, the rules were changed so that the quartet could enlist simultaneously.

"For some of the time we had to give concerts to an audience of soldiers that had been 'encouraged' to attend and weren't very interested. Winning them over was a battle in itself."

The quartet's tour Down Under starts with nine concerts throughout New Zealand and moves on to Australia for a further 11 dates.

"I've never been to New Zealand," says Gross, "but all my friends say it's great. I tell them that with 20 concerts in a month we won't be seeing much of either country. Another time I [will] come back as tourist."

The quartet has lived with a full playing schedule for some years. After their 1997 win at the top-ranking chamber-music competition in Graz, Austria, engagements came thick and fast. Two years ago the BBC chose them as four of their 12 "New Generation Artists", which gave them many concert dates throughout the UK.

Three weeks ago, their first commercial CD appeared, including quartets by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, two composers who also feature in their NZ tour.

"We have a special liking for the Russian composers," admits Gross. "We're Russians ourselves, after all. Shostakovich we love."

The group is rarely apart on tour. They take the same flights, often come together for meals and stay in the same hotels. "When we started as teenagers, we shared the same room. It was like a boys' dorm at a school camp."

A quick question about plans reveals that the quartet is fully booked to the end of 2002, and each member is trying to find ways of having a solo career as well as keeping the quartet going.

Are they all different personalities?

"We're serious people," says Gross. "Our performances have a combined depth and intensity - technique is important, but feeling is what counts for us as a group.

"When we're together we don't think much about ourselves as individuals but we're not solemn. Kyril, the cellist, is always ... " He tries the phrase "going out", then he accepts my suggestion of "outgoing".

"I, too talk a lot," he says, without a flicker, "and the others are very not quiet."