MUSIC REVIEW : Southwest Chamber Society Opens Third Season

Good things come in small packages, so they say. The Southwest Chamber Music Society would appear to believe so, opening its third season with an intriguing program of mostly 20th-Century miniatures.

A concert Thursday at Salmon Hall at Chapman College in Orange featured just three of the society’s 15 members: pianist Albert Dominguez, violinist Peter Marsh and soprano Donna Robin. Schoenberg was the focal point of the evening, with brief forays into Bach, Busoni, Krenek and Gershwin.

The high point of the program, to be repeated tonight in Newport Beach, was Marsh’s performance of Bach’s famous Chaconne in D minor. It was as compelling and passionate a reading of this piece as you’re likely to hear, intense from note to note and dramatically paced in its entirety. Marsh proved every bit as convincing when joined by Dominguez for a colorful and spirited reading of Schoenberg’s late, terse Phantasy.

The musical find of the evening was Ernst Krenek’s “O Lacrymosa,” an exquisite setting of three Rilke poems (dedicated to the composer) for soprano and piano. The music ranges from simple chordal accompaniment and tuneful singing to richly spiced harmonies, driving rhythms and arching soprano lines.

Also heard: Schoenberg’s brief, restrained setting of a Maeterlinck poem, “Herzgewachse,” was as mysterious in effect as its ethereal text. Robin sang both works with expressive grace and warm, focused tone, nicely placing the many high notes, including a startling F above high C in the Schoenberg.

Dominguez gave intent performances of the Six Little Pieces, Opus 19, and the Piano Pieces, Opus 33, by Schoenberg. His account of the lavishly virtuosic Busoni transcription of the Bach Chaconne, however, was oddly brusque.

The concert concluded with some Gershwin, overly fussy readings of two Piano Preludes by Dominguez and overly sentimental singing of four songs, including “Summertime” and “Embraceable You,” by Robin.

The Southwest Chamber Music Society plays works for soprano, violin and piano by Busoni, Bach, Krenek, Schoenberg and Gershwin tonight at 8 at the Newport Harbor Art Museum, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach. Tickets: $6 to $12. Information: (714) 759-1122.