MUSIC REVIEW : Atherton Returns in Mainly Mozart Festival That Offers Little Sparkle

David Atherton staged a stylish return to the local music scene Friday night conducting the inaugural concert of his Mainly Mozart Festival at Balboa Park’s Old Globe Theatre.

While the San Diego Symphony’s former music director is alternately lionized and despised by various factions of the San Diego music community, his first appearance in more than two years proved understated and notably unself-conscious.

The enterprise of the 10-day festival sported all the earmarks of success. Opening night boasted a full house; champagne flowed liberally at the lengthy intermission, and flowers were distributed to patrons as they departed. On the side walls of the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, large banners hailed the festival’s numerous corporate sponsors.

Musically, however, there was little to cheer about, in spite of the audience’s knee-jerk standing ovation at the concert’s finale. To be certain, the festival chamber orchestra--some 28 strong for the opening concert--was a first-rate ensemble of young players from orchestras across the country. But like Atherton’s podium demeanor, their performance was oddly muted, precise rather than inspiring, clean rather than captivating.

The moments of glory were provided by violist Cynthia Phelps in her solo role, along with violinist William Preucil, in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major, K. 364. With Phelps’ unusually warm, generous timbre and the compelling vitality of her musical line, she soared above her cautious colleagues. Although Phelps is principal violist with the Minnesota Orchestra, she is fondly remembered as the San Diego Symphony’s acting principal violist for the 1985-86 season. Preucil, a player of unquestionable polish and refinement, has been the Atlanta Symphony’s concertmaster for seven years.

Atherton opened the program with Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik,” an uninspired choice complemented by an uninspired reading, but the players vainly attempted to lavish some care over those overly familiar, banal themes. The Haydn Symphony No. 35 in B-flat Major, however, proved a welcome antidote, and Atherton thoughtfully delineated its dramatic turns.

From this initial hearing, the Old Globe’s outdoor stage regrettably is not conducive to musical performance. In this setting, the ensemble sound seemed diminished, and the strings sounded particularly thin. Perhaps if the stage had a shell around the back and over the top, the orchestra’s sound would not have been so diffused.

And while airplanes approaching Lindbergh Field did not attain the show-stopping intrusiveness of a Starlight performance, they did provide unwelcome background noise.

The festival continues through Sunday at the Old Globe.