Philharmonic Institute Players Dazzle at UCLA

At the conclusion of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute concert at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall on Friday, several hundred people sprang to their feet, frenziedly applauding, yelping, whooping and exhibiting other dangerous signs of non-classical audience behavior.

Their inspiration was a gloriously unfettered performance of Brahms’ G-minor Piano Quartet by youthful Institute members--pianist William Eddins, violinist Sheryl Staples and violist Tatjana Mead--and cellist Lynn Harrell, the Institute’s director.

Their playing of this demanding, in some hands long-winded work, proved consistently involved, spirited and sonorous: quasi-orchestral at one moment, feathery at another.

This was hardly a reading likely from a permanent ensemble. Such a group would modify speed (which here ranged from faster than possible to slower than likely) and numerous other factors that contributed to making Friday’s ad-hoc marvel not sensible, immaculate and satisfying but reckless, a bit disheveled, and intensely, viscerally communicative.

And if Eddins, whose pianism was as impressive for its nimbleness as for its power, shows comparable command as a conductor--he is an Institute conducting fellow . . . . The mind reels.

Earlier in the evening, one had the pleasure of hearing Mozart’s C-minor Wind Serenade, played by eight accomplished Institute members under fellow Susan Davenny Wyner, who produced an affectionate, singing interpretation of this darkly elusive work.

The program began with Copland’s bombastic “Fanfare for the Common Man,” which in the intimate auditorium’s very live acoustic was simply deafening rather than a valid showcase for Institute brass and percussion.