MUSIC REVIEWS : Philharmonic Chamber Society Excels at Gindi

The new season of Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber Music Society concerts in Gindi Auditorium opened Monday with a riskily imaginative program that proved distinguished in each of its three components.

The first of the evening’s ensembles announced its skills boldly with Jean Francaix’s rarely encountered Quartet for English Horn and Strings, music abounding in jazzy and Latin syncopations and hellish rhythmic complexities. For the first three of its five movements it also offers a good deal more to engage the emotions than the composer’s usual frisky, frothy, Frenchy fluff.

The alert, springy performance centered on Carolyn Hove’s plangent, immaculately manipulated English horn, with strong support from violinist Camille Avellano, violist Ingrid Runde and cellist Barry Gold.

The fiercely beating heart of the program was Kodaly’s searing Duo for Violin and Cello, projected with unflagging technical command and dramatic intensity by violinist Lyndon Johnston Taylor, with cellist Gloria Lum etching her by no means secondary role with dark, solidly centered tone.

A knowledgeable, appreciative audience kept recalling these young artists--and, presumably, Kodaly’s knockout score--until well after the stage lights had dimmed, signaling intermission.

Grieg’s String Quartet in G minor, a monster of disorganization and a marvel of lyric invention, provided the satisfying finale.

The ensemble enlisted to cope with its inspired vagaries--violinists Mark Kashper and Avellano, violist Meredith Snow and cellist Gold--may have had its messy moments, but sang the grand melodies with fearless abandon while keeping the structural sprawl to a minimum.

In short, a heavenly evening--with not a star, in fact only a single Philharmonic principal (Hove), present.