MUSIC REVIEW : 10TH SEASON FOR IRVINE SYMPHONY

The Irvine Symphony would seem to be a very humble, self-effacing group. How else to describe an orchestra that launches its 10th anniversary season with two concertos and a Rossini overture?

Such modesty is not mandated by the ensemble’s abilities, as displayed Monday evening at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The Irvine Symphony offered quick, bright, confident--if not always perfectly unified--playing, vigorously led by Roger Hickman.

He, at least, was not one to hide his light. Hickman briskly jogged onstage and pounced on Rossini’s “L’Italiana in Algeri” Overture with athletic fervor. Many another conductor could have gotten through an entire Tchaikovsky symphony with less bobbing and weaving.

The biggest piece on the agenda was Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, a work certainly of symphonic dimensions. Sidney Weiss, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, brought a full measure of nobility, elegance, power and zest to the music. He did not, however, pull all his individually gorgeous moments in the expansive first movement together into a comprehensive whole.

According to the program, Weiss was playing a violin of his own making, something few--if any--other fiddlers of his caliber could do. In his hands the instrument sang sweetly and clearly. It seemed to take some effort, though, to make it speak quickly, particularly on the D-string. That may have accounted for occasional moments of misintonation in runs.

Hickman shepherded his players through a neat enough, albeit often unbalanced, accompaniment. The slender string sections--only three-quarters of the players listed in the program--may have been a gesture in the direction of period practice, but they had a hard time projecting against the over-achieving work of the winds.

Pianist Jean Weiss, wife and frequent musical partner of the violinist, was the soloist in Mozart’s Concerto in G, K.453. She brought stylish grace to the obviously congenial assignment, playing with serene poise and surprising sass in the finale.

In the first tier of seats at least, the clarity of her passage work was sometimes compromised by an odd reverberance. The pervasive hiss of the air conditioning, welcome though it was for comfort, did not enhance aesthetic appreciation of the performances.