MUSIC REVIEW : ORCHESTRA CALIFORNIA’S DEBUT A CLASSICAL FLOP

Where is Evelyn Waugh when we need him? Surely the late British author who cannily satirized Southern California mores in “The Loved One” would have had a field day at the premiere concert of the Orchestra California Sunday afternoon at the La Jolla Marriott Hotel. Based in Laguna Hills, this newly formed 60-piece orchestra is the brainchild of its conductor, Kevin Golden, whose goal is to purge symphony-attending from its stultifying traditions. He chose the new La Jolla Marriott for his orchestra’s debut.

Picture a hotel ballroom--in de rigueur mauve and gray with the usual glitzy hotel tinsel--in which the audience and orchestra have been set up in the round, with the conductor’s podium on a small stage in the room’s center. Before maestro Golden mounted this highly upholstered set, he was introduced by a member of the new orchestra’s board--a doting, effusive matron wrapped in yards of exuberant floral chiffon.

It was Golden, however, who set the afternoon’s standards when it came to effusion. He spent more time stage center hyping the music and dispensing his own brand of pop music appreciation than he did conducting. Those who came expecting to hear Brahms’ First Symphony--as the publicity clearly stated was to be performed--heard instead “an exploration of the first and fourth movements,” as the program described it. In truth, Golden rehearsed various snippets of these two movements, demonstrating important themes, major and minor chords, a chromatic scale, and the mysteries of thematic transformation.

After this teasing foray into Brahms, Golden set his sights on Rossini’s “William Tell Overture.” The snappy young conductor described Rossini as the John Williams of his day, then reminded his listeners that they surely knew this classic work because of its association with “The Lone Ranger” television and radio series. He then admonished them to forget the fabled cowboy and his faithful Indian companion while he explained the authentic programmatic significance of the sections of Rossini’s opera overture. And then the orchestra actually played the entire overture!

Golden appeared to be preoccupied with celestial imagery, for he described both the main theme from the Brahms symphony finale and an English horn trill in the Rossini as “a little bit of heaven on earth.” Golden’s podium cheerleading made the average television game show contestant appear positively catatonic.

The program’s second half was devoted to selections from Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess,” featuring soprano Debra Johns, tenor Thomas Randle and baritone Mic Bell. The vocalists exhibited a refreshing dose of professionalism, singing with polish, assurance and generous warmth of tone. Johns’ glittering high notes compensated for a weak lower register and a tendency to indulge in excessive portamento to symbolize a sultry mood. Golden, who was trained as a singer, thoughtlessly overpowered his singing colleagues, egging the orchestra on when he should have been paying attention to his soloists.

Playing in the round, with members of the audience interlaced between the rows of orchestra members, did not prove to be a wholly capricious notion. It gave the orchestra a colorful blend, although members of the strings found it difficult to keep together in rapid passage work. Of course, the orchestra did not play enough serious repertory at one time to judge whether or not this novel seating plan, where the musicians sit in mixed quintets, not in separate sections, is feasible.

The Orchestra California is based in Orange County, a segment of Southern California undergoing a certain cultural awakening. Golden’s orchestra has concerts slated this fall in both Orange County and Los Angeles, with a “Messiah” singalong back at the La Jolla Mariott on Nov. 23. In February he will export this unique brand of music-making to the culturally starved Bay Area.