Music Reviews : Brown Leads L.A. Chamber Orchestra in Season Finale

Though pre-eminently eclectic, Iona Brown’s season-ending program for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra convincingly underscored the development of a characteristic string sound and a new commitment to contemporary music under her leadership.

The agenda, heard Tuesday evening at Ambassador Auditorium, ran the gamut for strings, from a Purcell Trio Sonata to John Adams’ “Shaker Loops.” The tie that bound was the intense, taut sound, apparent in Brown’s solo efforts and reflected in the string section as a whole. It is capable of warmth and nuance, but an articulate muscularity is its dominant element.

There are few works that more effectively showcase a string band than “Shaker Loops,” an early but quite characteristic Adams piece that was played in the same hall three years ago by the late and lamented Pasadena Chamber Orchestra. The piece still seems overly long for its materials, particularly in the central portions, but Adams works so masterfully with traditional sonorities and creates such attractive new ones that it is ultimately captivating.

The same orchestral virtues of concentrated sound and determined direction produced a zestful, imposing account of Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir de Florence.” Brown and her players made the room ring with ensemble punch, and Laura Kuennen played the viola solos in the slow movement with understated grace.

What worked so well for Tchaikovsky and Adams sounded less satisfying in Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso in B-minor. There the effect was somewhat roughshod and pressing, though also energetic in the extreme. Brown, Jacqueline Brand, Julie Gigante and Roger Wilkie proved well-matched in the solo violin parts, which included some errant intonation.

The concert began incongruously with Brown, violinist Ralph Morrison, cellist Douglas Davis and harpsichordist Patricia Mabee alone in a Trio Sonata in E-flat by Purcell. Their work proved sensitive but not obsequious to the demands of period style, fluent and pointed in sound, and generous in spirit.