MUSIC REVIEW : CLARINETIST SCHIFRIN PERFORMS MOZART LIKE AN ANGEL

Karl Barth, the respected 20th-Century Swiss theologian, maintained that in heaven, only the music of Mozart is played. If that peculiar notion contains any truth, it would have been advisable for all celestial clarinetists to have hovered within earshot of Sherwood Hall Saturday night to hear David Schifrin play the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, K. 581.

The quintet was the high point of an all-Mozart concert, the second offering in the La Jolla Chamber Music Society’s Summerfest ’86. While the evening’s fare exhibited a spectrum of approaches that ran from elegant to rambunctious, the playing was of uniformly high caliber. And extra chairs were brought in to accommodate the overflow audience. It was a heady night for Mozart.

At the apex of Mozartean chamber style is an elegant balance of propulsion and serenity that Schifrin embodied with uncanny skill. His unique, seamless tone was almost flute-like in its upper range. It started imperceptibly and glided into every cadence. First violinist David Wellerstein proved a complementary leading voice for the accompanying strings, suave and cleanly focused, as was cellist Ralph Kirshbaum.

Balancing the Clarinet Quintet was the E-flat Viola Quintet, K. 614. To Mozart’s final chamber music offering, this Sherwood Hall ensemble brought a combination of brilliance and affection. Violists Nobuko Imai and festival artistic director Heiichiro Ohyama fused their sturdy timbres into an engaging solo voice. They blended well with Ronald Leonard’s fleet, subtle cello line, giving the lower voices a luxurious patina. Had first violinist Masuko Ushioda been less aggressive and domineering, these five string players might have eclipsed their colleagues in the Clarinet Quintet. In any case, the competition for such laurels was a listener’s feast.

The evening opened with a slightly offbeat reading of Mozart’s Piano Trio in C Major, K. 548. While the outer movements were robust and thundering, the middle andante cantabile sounded both mannered and arduously detailed. Vienna-born pianist Anton Kuerti brought his formidable keyboard dexterity to the part, but his interpretation was overly dry--almost didactic--if suitably varied in touch and articulation. Violinist Miriam Fried was not up to her usual standards, betraying strident attacks and a few stray notes, while 16-year-old cellist Matt Haimovitz brought his pellucid, boy-wonder technique to the trio’s bass line.

Pianist Vivian Wellerstein joined husband David in the two-movement G Major Violin Sonata, K. 379. While the variations of the final movement sparkled, the allegro of the opening movement taxed the violinist’s otherwise silvery tone. Vivian’s effulgent piano realization sounded a bit Mendelssohnian, but she projected a clear vision of its quirky tonal architecture.