Music Reviews : L.A. Baroque Orchestra Makes It to Mainstream

Now in its fourth season, the Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra appears to have entered the mainstream of the Southland’s musical life: The first of this weekend’s three performances held in different locations--Friday’s was at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Santa Monica--sold out a good 15 minutes before 8 p.m.

The organization’s name notwithstanding, the program consisted of works from the Classic Period. Led from the concertmaster’s spot (one cannot say chair, since he stood the entire evening) by Gregory Maldonaldo, the orchestra opened with Boccherini’s Sinfonia in D minor, Opus 12, No. 4 (“La Casa del Diavolo”), in a clean, articulate reading that exploded with vitality. Even with only 20 musicians and instruments supposedly limited in their ability to project, the ensemble delivered striking dynamic contrasts and a wide spectrum of timbre.

Maldonaldo then traded violin for viola, as he and violinist Jolianne von Einem teamed up to deliver Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat. The composer intended for the viola to be tuned up a half-step, having written the part out in D major. This scordatura tuning, seldom practiced today (modern instruments are strung with far greater tension than their 18th-Century counterparts), was to increase the instrument’s brilliance.

From the balcony of St. Paul’s, however, Maldonaldo’s tone sounded meek and thin, and, during rapid note passages, became buried in the orchestral fabric. Both soloists, however, played with stylish elegance and good taste, and, but for some cracked notes from the horns and imperfect intonation in the oboes, received solid support from their 18 colleagues.

Maldonaldo and friends closed the evening with a gentle, flowing account of Mozart’s Symphony No. 29. Clean, accurate string playing helped bring forth a wealth of details, although the winds encountered the same difficulties as in the previous work.