MUSIC REVIEW : Opening of Pacific Serenades Chamber Series

Pianist Delores Stevens, horn player Richard Todd and violinist Debra Price presented four chamber works Thursday evening for the opening concert of Pacific Serenades’ third season. Taking place in the ornate, at times noisy, Crystal Room of the Biltmore Hotel, the concert included the world premiere of Roger Bourland’s “Recent Dreams,” a fantasy for this combination of instruments.

“Recent Dreams” makes few bold statements, shying away from any new frontiers of music-making. Writing in an immediately accessible tonal language, Bourland obviously drew much of his influence from film music--a field to which he has contributed three scores.

Whole-tone scales, a sudden, unannounced waltz and a few mild dissonant chords at times create curiosities that attempted to entice the listener. But the music rarely reflects a great deal of soul-searching or vision.

Stevens, Todd and Price managed the gentle, dreamy music with expertise. Lush melodic fragments and various solo passages were given due attention and care even if the overall piece contained few, if any, moments of demanding virtuosity.

On the other hand, the centerpiece of the evening, Brahms’ Trio in E-flat, gave the players a substantial workout. In the opening Andante and Scherzo, technical prowess was in abundance, sometimes at the expense of expressiveness. But the Finale achieved the right amount of ebullience leading the work to a satisfying conclusion.

Also on the program was a stunning performance of Debussy’s “Pour le Piano” suite by Stevens, who took the Toccata at a remarkably rapid clip. Opening the program, Stevens and Todd combined forces for a lively performance of Beethoven’s Horn Sonata.