MUSIC REVIEW : Organist Mary Preston Opens Baroque Fest

Solid music making mixed with a few flawed moments marked the opening of the ninth annual Corona del Mar Baroque Music Festival on Sunday night at St. Michael and All Angels Church.

Organist Mary Preston was on hand in an evening of works from various historical periods for solo organ and for organ and strings.

Most uncommon were performances of two recently discovered Baroque English organ concertos, one by John Stanley and the other by a composer known only as Mr. Edwards. The scores were discovered last year in London by Burton Karson, the artistic director for the festival and conductor of the festival orchestra.

Edwards’ concerto proved a simple composition with occasional moments of interest. Undoubtedly influenced by Handel--a very young Handel--the work is not ambitious and certainly not a masterpiece, but worth the attentive performance it received.

Stanley’s concerto, on the other hand, was a dull, academic exercise. Most of the time, the organ part simply doubled what was going on in the orchestra, offering little variation or musical ideas that were particularly memorable.

Karson deftly conducted his ensemble, demonstrating restraint and preparedness. The orchestra responded appropriately, yielding an accurate, spirited performance.

Preston played the small 24-rank organ with power and varied, tasteful registrations. Occasionally, there were lapses and mistakes that may have been the result of unfamiliarity with the mechanics of the instrument.

Yet her prowess as an organist was aptly displayed in her selection of solo works, which included a confident, moving performance of Mozart’s Fantasia in F minor. Franck’s Prelude, Fugue and Variation equally shared the spotlight, as Preston utilized a sturdy technique and deep understanding of the intricacies of the Romantic style.

The biggest disappointment of the evening was a tentative, lackluster performance of Poulenc’s Concerto in G minor, an often bombastic work for organ, orchestra and timpani. Karson’s forces suffered intonation problems throughout as Preston struggled to project some energy out of the muddy harmonies and sforzando chords.