MUSIC REVIEW : SIDLIN CONDUCTS MOZART CONCERT

Concerts devoted to the music of a single composer--even one as gifted and prodigious as Mozart--often run the danger of settling into a rut of monotony.

Thursday in the Terrace Theater, Murry Sidlin chose two symphonies and the Sinfonia Concertante for winds, and thus sent his Long Beach Symphony on a course that strayed too often into that rut. Though the genius of Mozart managed to shine through, the evening proved uncomfortably long and monochromatic.

The final work on the program, the “Jupiter” Symphony (No. 41), was all but destroyed, first by a steady parade of late-comers for whom 25 minutes of intermission socializing seemed hardly enough, then by Sidlin himself, who observed every repeat in the score. It’s hard to comprehend, but somehow the “Jupiter” outlasted its welcome. This, despite spirited playing and brisk tempos in the outer movements.

Sidlin contrasted Mozart’s last symphony with his first, K. 16, which opened the program. The thought was a nice one--showing how much the composer had matured during his short life. But the point seems all too obvious, considering that No. 1 was written when Mozart was all of 8.

Short (barely 10 minutes) and tuneful, the piece received a suitably light, graceful performance, aided considerably by the nimble harpsichord continuo of Patricia Mabee (rudely uncredited in the program). Nonetheless, the work came through as something less than an ear-catching curtain-raiser.

Rather than contrast the symphonies with a solo vehicle for piano or voice, Sidlin borrowed a quartet of players from his orchestra for the symphonic-sounding Sinfonia Concertante--the one that either Mozart wrote or someone else did.

Rough accompaniment, particularly in the strings, and a lack of momentum resulted in a rather listless, cool reading. Hardly at fault, however, were the capable soloists--Alan Greenfield, clarinet; Calvin Smith, horn; John Steinmetz, bassoon, and Larry Timm, oboe.