Music Reviews : Chamber Music From the L.A. Philharmonic Institute

Finely honed ensemble playing may be too much to expect from ad hoc collections of young musicians. They can, however, revel earnestly in the sort of repertory seldom heard outside such gatherings, as members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute did Friday evening at Schoenberg Hall.

A squad of eight cellists and soprano Elissa Johnston reminded us of Villa-Lobos’ wonderful scores for cellos with an energetically scrappy account of the “Bachianas Brasileiras” No. 5. Johnston supplied both soaring purity and insinuating zest, straitjacketed and overwhelmed at times by Lynn Harrell’s awkward conducting and his pressing little band.

Harrell, the institute’s artistic director, also joined pianist Stephen Hough in an unscheduled demonstration of eloquent personal artistry. The veteran cellist brought the simple virtues of tone control and direct sentiment to bear on transcriptions of two Schubert songs, “An die Musik” and “Nacht und Traum.”

Hough, who had played the “Emperor” Concerto the night before at the Hollywood Bowl, also collaborated with violinists Helen Nightengale and Amanda Yules, violist Vincent Phelan and cellist Amanda Forsyth in Dvorak’s familiar Quintet in A. Theirs was a performance veering from startling technical crudity to moments of real magic, all marked by a high seriousness and vigor.

Nine of the institute wind players provided the concert’s best ensemble work in Gounod’s “Petite Symphonie,” and unconducted at that. They dealt generously with both the lyrical effusions and the circus music impulses, in a brisk, balanced reading.