The Danish String Quartet returns with the ensemble chemistry and interpretive insight that have made it a favorite with Berkeley audiences. Its program blends a contemporary work by Berkeley native Gabriella Smith with landmark quartets by Shostakovich and Beethoven, moving from rhythmic drive to introspection and late-period transcendence.

Smith’s dynamic Carrot Revolution opens the program, followed by Shostakovich’s String Quartet in F-sharp major, Op. 142, a work that gives the cello an unusually prominent role. Beethoven’s dramatic String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131 closes the recital with one of the composer’s most profound continuous-form creations.