MUSIC REVIEW : Orchestra Gives First Performance

The Friday night premiere of the Orange County Four Seasons Orchestra proved that assembling 16 professional musicians does not, in itself, guarantee a first-rate ensemble. At least not at the outset, after a total of four meetings.

The chamber orchestra, founded and primarily funded by music director Carolyn Broe to bring top-notch performances of Baroque music to Orange County, is still wet behind the ears, despite mature components. Problems included ragged intonation during Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2 and Handel’s Concerto Grosso, Opus 6, No. 6; overly cautious tempos in, for instance, the tempo giusto section of the second movement of the concerto grosso; little use of accent to mark dancelike qualities, and failure to shape lines or offer more than perfunctory repetition of echoed phrases.

These failures were most evident in movements that featured the entire group rather than the expertise of individual members. On his own, concertmaster Robin Olson’s insistent solo infused sparks into an otherwise lackluster concerto grosso. Mary Palchak brought faultless intonation and round, inviting tone to Vivaldi’s “Goldfinch” Concerto for flute, in an eminently listenable--if not exciting--reading. Violinist Cecilia Archuleta attacked “Autumn,” from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” with a technical security that carried into a lively, well-balanced trio with flutists Palchak and Mary Lazarian for Bach’s fourth “Brandenburg” Concerto.

Guest conductor Donald Ambroson presided over the orchestra with questionable pertinence, especially in moments such as the Larghetto movement of the Vivaldi flute concerto. For this movement, Ambroson obviously took his tempo from Palchak, who got this listener’s vote in support of the choice. Perhaps a more democratically run ensemble, without a separate conductor, would result in more spirit, less pedantry.

Broe cherishes ambitious plans for the Four Seasons Orchestra, including the introduction of other art media into the group’s concerts. On this occasion, 10 minutes of slides depicting masters’ paintings from the Baroque period prefaced the performance. Future appearances--as yet unscheduled--will feature simultaneous musical and non-musical presentations. Moreover Broe, co-principal violist with the ensemble, is currently transcribing a Bach harpsichord concerto for viola, the vehicle for which she believes the work was originally intended.

The premiere performance of the orchestra attracted an audience of 560 to the Santa Ana High School auditorium--not bad for a hitherto nonexistent group.