MUSIC REVIEW : A Brash Mix of Brass Tunes at the Barclay

Friday night’s concert by the Empire Brass was a study in contradictions, of virtuosity with amateurism, of calculated effect with aggressive overstatement, of variety with monotony. The concert--the first presentation of the Orange County Philharmonic Society in the new Irvine Barclay Theatre--was nothing if not frustrating.

The program itself turned out to be a miscalculation. It consisted of a hodgepodge string of hit tunes, jazz, Broadway, classical, mostly short and mostly upbeat. It was like eating dessert all evening. “Summertime,” Polovstian Dances, Peer Gynt . . .

The players--Rolf Smedvig and Jeffrey Curnow, trumpets; Eric Ruske, horn; Scott A. Hartman, trombone; J. Samuel Pilafian, tuba--stand center stage while performing, bells (even the French horn’s) pointed directly at the audience. Forget subtlety. They play the music aggressively, expertly, loudly. They don’t persuade, they slam home their points with gusto.

As intermission approached, one of the players announced that the group’s compact discs would be on sale in the lobby. When intermission arrived, there were the players themselves selling them. At $15 a pop.

Smedvig announced that both his music and his tuxedo had been stolen from his hotel room. He appeared in shirt-sleeves and played from memory. He also showed fatigue as the concert progressed. The group’s arrangements (the program consisted of nothing but arrangements, all uncredited) reveal little variety of timbre, all of the musicians playing most of the time. It becomes fatiguing to the ear. And Smedvig, who played lead all evening, grew tired. Why not allow Curnow a few numbers?

They play well, both individually and as a group. Hartman impressed with his slippery smooth solo in “Caravan.” Ruske had two extended features in a row, revealing muscle and flexibility. Smedvig dashed up and down the trumpet all night. Pilafian contributed some dazzling low-note comedy. But the whole was definitely less than its parts.