MUSIC REVIEW : Neal Stulberg Returns to Conduct Pacific Symphony

Everybody in Orange County knows that the embattled Pacific Symphony is looking for a new music director. But everybody swears that the guest conductors who appear on the podium at the Performing Arts Center this season are not--repeat, not--auditioning for the job.

They may be candidates, of course. But that is purely coincidental. The visiting maestros just happen to be passing through town. Their concerts here just are just ordinary garden-variety gigs.

Sure.

Neal Stulberg--enterprising young conductor of the New Mexico Symphony, former assistant to Carlo Maria Giulini with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and erstwhile leader of the YMF Debut Orchestra--got his turn Tuesday night. The occasion may not have been an official tryout, but Stulberg certainly seemed intent on proving what he can do.

He can do a lot. Moreover, he can do a lot in a small period of time.

To open the concert with good baroque manners, he played the harpsichord continuo for a little Vivaldi. Then he demonstrated his skills as collaborative accompanist in the soulful romanticism of the Sibelius Violin Concerto, a starry vehicle for Elmar Oliveira. For the inevitable classic trial, he turned to the daunting lyricism of Beethoven’s “Pastorale.”

Stulberg passed all three tests with easy authority, a few technical blemishes and an inaudible harpsichord notwithstanding. The audience loved him.

That, of course, may not be saying much. This audience loves everyone and everything. It still claps after every movement, callously destroying mood, tension and continuity in the process.

Costa Mesa, one hastens to add, enjoys no monopoly on boorish behavior. Anyone who attended the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in sophisticated Los Angeles on Monday can attest to that. Still, an instant ovation after the dreamy pianissimo evaporation of the Sibelius adagio must herald new frontiers of insensitivity.

Oh, well. . . .

It would take more than one encounter between Stulberg and the local orchestra to ascertain if the two can really bring out the best in each other. Although the Pacific Symphony is extraordinarily well staffed, it still can sound like an under-rehearsed pickup band. Finesse is not its forte. Ensemble values fluctuate. Intonation is imperfect. Even the best conductor can do only so much in one short visit.

Under the circumstances, Stulberg was wise to attend to basics. In Vivaldi’s C-major Flautino Concerto, R. 443, he concentrated on crisp articulation, forward momentum and firm orchestral support for the stylish flourishes of Louise di Tullio (who traced the solo lines on a piercing piccolo). In an obviously affectionate, nicely proportioned performance of the Beethoven symphony, he stressed warmth of tone and buoyancy of phrase.

In the centerpiece, the Sibelius concerto, he followed Oliveira’s subjective meanderings as attentively as one has a right to expect. The orchestra did beat the suddenly sentimental violinist in a race to the final cadence, but these things happen.

In general, one suspected that Stulberg might have preferred a more restrained approach. Still, he created a nice, lush symphonic ambiance for the protagonist’s indulgences.

Those indulgences, not incidentally, were conveyed with marvelous silken tone and extraordinary expressive urgency. Oliveira may be only 38, but he is a violinist who savors the old romantic tradition. We should hear more of him around here.

We should hear more of Stulberg, too.