Orava String Quartet plays lithely and dramatically, but doesn't fully cohere

The four young Australians of the Orava String Quartet, which appeared Sunday at the National Gallery, are currently the graduate-quartet-in-residence under the Takacs Quartet at the University of Colorado and clearly have absorbed some Takacs's hallmarks. They have a sense of drama. They can dance through music with the lightest of pianissimos and, even in the quickest movements, they never sound rushed.