MUSIC REVIEWS : PAILLARD CHAMBER GROUP IN PASADENA

Jean-Francois Paillard and the chamber orchestra that bears his name presented an odd mixture of great and not-so-great music Tuesday night before a smallish crowd at Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena.

The French conductor drew a smooth, silky sound and a stunningly effective pianissimo from his dozen string players (plus harpsichord) in Purcell’s brilliant Chaconne. The ensemble also gave a brisk account of an early divertimento (K. 136) by Mozart at his tuneful best.

Unfortunately, Paillard decided to use trifles by Schubert and C.P.E. Bach to display the solo talents of two first-desk players. Schubert’s melodic Rondo in A received as sympathetic a reading as one could expect, but even the nonchalant bravura and sweet, shimmering tone of violinist Gerard Jarry could not mask what is essentially a superficial piece of parlor music.

Post-intermission, cellist Jean-Claude Gerin took center stage for C.P.E. Bach’s Concerto in A, another lyrical bit of fluff. Gerin managed to draw out a rich, warm sound in the lower and middle registers, but some moments in the high tessitura proved problematic. In both solo vehicles, Paillard and his players served as faithful accompanists.

A concerto grosso by Handel (Opus 6, No. 10) was the stately, if uneventful, curtain-raiser.

The encore? Guess. Right--the inevitable Pachelbel Canon, a work that, in fact, gained some of its early popularity through a recording by the Paillard ensemble. No doubt, the group meant no harm at the time.