MUSIC REVIEW : Festival Performance Highlights Seldom-Heard Works, Composers

Variety and surprise graced the Central Patio Room at Sherman Library and Gardens on Wednesday. The concert--the second of a series of four in the Baroque Music Festival of Corona del Mar--consisted largely of works by some little-played composers mixed with lesser-known pieces by familiar magnates.

Jean-Marie Leclair’s Sonata in A Major, Opus 9, No. 4 for violin and continuo, provided a virtuosic showstopper. Here, violinist Peter Marsh shone with aggressive technical mastery and expressive perspicuity.

Marsh had previously joined violinist Frances Moore, harpsichordist Lucinda Carver and cellist Kevin Plunkett for two trio sonatas, the first by Corelli, the second by Purcell. In contrast with Marsh’s solo foray, the faster movements of these ensembles marched along conservatively.

Rhythmic drive and mutually attentive ensemble members prevented the slightly slow tempos from dampening the spirit of Purcell’s first Trio Sonata. Corelli’s Opus 2, No. 4 fared less happily, however. The tame Allegro adopted for the concluding Gigue begged to dance along in more lively fashion, but the performers held it strictly in check.

As festival artistic director Burton Karson noted during amicable comments, the eight collaborating musicians offered a potpourri of modern and period strings and winds. The chalumeau, precursor of the clarinet, made a charming appearance in Johann Christoph Graupner’s Trio in F for viola d’amore, bass chalumeau and continuo. Albert Rice traded stylish phrasing with Daniel Thomason (on viola d’amore), while continuo players Carver and Plunkett subdued the accompaniment to accommodate the quiet protagonists.

True, a few notes refused to speak on the chalumeau, and tuning itself seemed a challenge. Nevertheless, even a disjointed moment in the Allegro could not hold down the jaunty duo who persisted with remarkable dynamic variation despite the limitations of their instruments.

The best-known composer on the program, Handel, was represented by a barely known Overture for two clarinets and horn. Here, clarinetist Linda Silva matched Rice’s fleet-footed lines, while hornist Steven Sprague joined with uneven results.