Music Reviews : Strauss Orchestra in Orange County

If the Waltz King had been this dull, there might not be any Johann Strauss tradition to carry on, and so no Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra, which appeared Monday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, sponsored by the Orange County Philharmonic Society.

In his West Coast debut, conductor Alfred Eschwe proved little more than an om-pah-pah time-beater as he led the ensemble (about 38 members, modeled upon Strauss’ original orchestra) in a program of polkas, waltzes, marches and quadrilles by four members of the great Austrian dance-music dynasty--Johann Sr. and Jr., Josef and Eduard.

A wiry, not very tall conductor who bears a remarkable resemblance to the orchestra’s namesake, Eschwe’s gestures were limited to inexpressive, boxy beats. He had a tendency to conduct in formulaic patterns: two bars at a leisurely tempo, followed by two at a snappier pace, with occasional swooping accents. He made the seams at every internal repetition show, effectively scotching build-up of emotional sweep or momentum.

In his hands, the memorable melodies--the “Blue Danube” or “Wine, Women and Song” waltzes--were inexpressive and unshaped and seemed mere flotsam on underlying rhythmic patterns.

At its best, the ensemble was cohesive, balanced, transparent, with airy, spacious rhythms. But it also displayed thin and occasionally edgy string tone, sluggish articulation, insecurity of attack and perfunctoriness in cut-offs.

Considering the hundreds of works that constitute the Strausses’ output, Eschwe chose a program distressingly reliant upon gimmicky effects: the string players shouting part of the alphabet (“Buchstaben” Polka), the musicians chuffing laughs (in what was announced from the stage as the “No Problems” Polka), a trombonist doffing a train conductor’s hat and calling out, “All Aboard!” (“Bahn frei” Polka).

Not least of the gimmicks was the audience clap-along version of the Radetzky March that segued into the “Stars and Stripes Forever,” as one of three encores.

The ensemble will appear at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena on Saturday and Sunday.