MUSIC REVIEW : A Tuning Fork Might Have Helped : * As part of the 17th annual Seal Beach festival, the Beverly Hills Trio demonstrates solid rhythm, passable balance, OK ensemble and some questionable tempos--but, oh, the pitch!

To play in tune: This is a performing musician’s No. 1 priority.

Easier said than done, of course, and no musician, it can be safely ventured, ever played in tune 100% of the time. But the ability to do so consistently--let us say, virtually all of the time--is a thread that connects the art of Louis Armstrong with that of Luciano Pavarotti, the art of Orpheus with that of Talking Heads.

Which brings us to Tuesday night’s concert in the 17th annual Seal Beach Chamber Music Festival. It was free. Some, maybe many, of those in attendance at McGaugh School Auditorium enjoyed it. Undeniable facts.

But it was also out of tune. All of it, from beginning to end.

The Beverly Hills Trio--violinist Debbie Grossman, cellist Alan Parker and pianist Milcho Leviev--performed music by Handel, Beethoven and Telemann. These composers have been heard to better advantage.

Beethoven’s Trio, Opus 1, No. 2, made up the second half of the program.

Violin sonatas by Handel and Telemann--identified unhelpfully as simply the Violin Sonata No. 2 in G minor and the Violin Sonata No. 2 in D, respectively--took up the first half. They were performed with a basso continuo of piano and cello supporting the violin solo. Note: This is a practice generally considered outmoded nowadays because it doesn’t do justice to the sonorities originally intended by these composers.

Most everything flowed smoothly from a rhythmic standpoint. Balances were passable, ensemble was OK, some tempos questionable.

But none of it mattered much, because the concert was out of tune. All of it. From beginning to end.