Music and Dance Reviews : Two Romeros Guest on Nova Concert Series

It’s a good thing the proceeds of the weekend benefit concert were not crucial to the survival of the Nova chamber music series at Cal State Long Beach. A small audience did not exactly pack Gerald R. Daniel Recital Hall to hear music director and pianist Michael Zearott and guest artists: guitarist Celin Romero, soprano Laurie Romero and Los Angeles Philharmonic cellist Howard Colf.

And that was too bad, because their program was an engaging potpourri of Spanish and Spanish-influenced chamber music.

The unquestioned highlight of the Friday night concert was the well-matched partnership of Colf and Zearott, first in Falla’s “Suite Populaire Espagnole”--then in Zearott’s own “Madrugada.” Their Falla was technically secure and interpretatively sensitive, uncomplicated and compelling.

Zearott’s “Madrugada” for cello and piano is a modern interpretation of Spanish motifs amid often frenzied and passionate movement. The technically stressful score, equally demanding for both performers, provided an exciting finale for the evening.

The Romero duo was less equally matched. Laurie Romero’s sure soprano outshone her husband’s competent accompaniment. Her control of soft, sustained lines in Rodrigo’s “Coplas del Pastor Enamorado” was most affecting.