MUSIC REVIEW : Debussy Trio Performs Sonata for the Flute, Viola and Harp

It should have been a delightful program. It isn’t often that one has the chance to hear Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, simply because few ensembles of such instrumentation exist.

Thus, Sunday’s visit to Laguna Beach High School Auditorium by the appropriately named Debussy Trio, winners of the Carmel Chamber Music Competition, looked extremely inviting.

Pity, then, that no one from the Laguna Beach Chamber Music Society saw fit to take care of a rather basic need: turning on the heat in the auditorium.

Not only did the hall’s temperature send at least one listener scurrying to his car for an extra jacket, it had an obvious deleterious effect on the music-making. Marcia Dickstein’s harp grew more out of tune as the afternoon wore on, and violist Christopher Redfield retuned at every available opportunity--not that it helped much.

Pity, too, that the ensemble did not have a better understanding of Debussy’s penultimate chamber work. Rife with changes of tempo and mood, the work became a series of unrelated fragments as the players exaggerated the composer’s tempo markings or came to a halt, only to start over, when such markings appeared.

There were, however, glorious moments in this performance. Each player proved capable of soulful probing and lyricism. Intonation aside, the young, locally trained players showed admirable facility and rhythmic precision.

Of the three, flutist Angela Schmidt exhibited the greatest poise and consistency. Clarity in all registers, a warm, full tone and superior control marked her playing. Dickstein too demonstrated confidence and technical agility. Redfield, though, exerted little authority most of the time and only occasionally played with real commitment.

The program ended with William Mathias’ “Zodiac Trio” (1975), a work of tight, logical construction and interesting motives that, alas, did not receive particularly interesting treatment.

Another relatively recent work, “Le Soleil Multicolore” (1969) by Jacques Bondon, sports rhythmic vitality and dynamism in the outer movements, on which the trio capitalized most effectively.

Perhaps the cleanest reading of the afternoon was the first--a Telemann concerto (presumably a transcription), in which clearly delineated counterpoint, propulsive energy and ensemble unity reigned.