Music and Dance Reviews : Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra Closes Its Season

The period-instrument Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra ended its season this weekend in characteristic fashion--three lithe, pointed performances of strong, unhackneyed repertory.

The program was devoted to Italian cantatas by Handel, sung by sopranos Mary Rawcliffe and Virginia Sublett. As heard Friday at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Santa Monica, the pairing of voices and music proved well-nigh ideal.

“Aminta e Fillide,” a lengthy pastoral lovers’ dialogue, capped the evening. Each singer had ample opportunity to prove her agility, breath control and interpretive focus over 10 varied arias, culminating in a joyful, irresistible gem of a duet.

Each also had a solo cantata. Sublett’s was the angry plaint of “Tu fedel? tu costante?” to which she brought a generous supply of cool, round sound and expressive clarity. Her voice had a fine shimmer suggesting untapped depths, and her dramatic instincts with this mannered text proved sure.

Rawcliffe’s assignment was “Tra le fiamme,” a contrasting vehicle for her brighter, lighter sound and narrative poise. Shadowed by florid viola da gamba obbligatos-- bravely executed by Mark Chatfield, though not projecting well--she sang with purity and grace.

Also on the long program--22 arias and duos, plus recitatives and instrumental preludes--was the blithely sung duet “No, di voi non vo’ fidarmi,” which Handel soon translated into two “Messiah” choruses.

Once past patches of misintonation in the opening Sonata of “Tu fedel?” the orchestra played with lean, limber, characterful zest. Led by concertmaster and music director Gregory Maldonado, the band sounded fresh yet well-drilled, pertinent and responsive.

The Achilles heel of this ensemble was the inconsistency of its solo flights. Harpsichordist Edward Murray and the indefatigable Chatfield anchored a large and solid continuo section, but individual efforts throughout the orchestra could be desperate gambles on sour notes and fumbled articulation.