SAN DIEGO COUNTY : MUSIC REVIEW : Leningrad Soloists Stand for Elegance

The North American debut of the Soloists of Leningrad may have been delayed two days by Soviet bureaucratic confusion, but the opportunity to hear this well-trained ensemble of 16 strings and one harpsichordist was worth the wait.

One of the San Diego Soviet arts festival’s imported treasures, the group gave its first festival performance Thursday night at Symphony Hall.

The musicians play without benefit of conductor and, with the exception of the three cellists and the keyboard player, perform standing. Combined with their elegant technique, this stance gives their sound an unusually energized, buoyant quality that made Mozart’s gallant D Major Divertimento, K. 136, literally dance across the stage.

Michael Gantvarg, the group’s leader and fluent soloist in Vivaldi’s “Summer” from “The Four Seasons,” gave minimal cues to his colleagues, but the authority of his direction was unmistakable.

Since the Leningrad musicians opened with Rossini’s Sonata No. 3 in C Major, it was difficult not to compare them to the Moscow Virtuosi, which played the same work only a month ago at Civic Theatre. The Virtuosi, a slightly larger ensemble, displayed a more brilliant approach, using Rossini’s elegant bauble to flaunt its virtuosity. Gantvarg and his crew, however, were content to savor Rossini’s subtler possibilities, using lighter attacks and less frenetic tempos.