MUSIC REVIEW : Philharmonic Players Shine at Gindi

Monday evenings at Gindi Auditorium used to be ragtag affairs, often more fun for the players--members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic shucking their anonymity--than for an audience seeking polished chamber music-making.

Things have changed. Mondays at Gindi have become cherishable events, not only for their inspired programming but for exhibiting the skills of orchestra members: not necessarily the people who sit up front (who, however, play their substantial parts) but the rank and file as well.

The most recent Monday at Gindi had it all--including the ragtag, but of a lofty sort.

The evening was launched with a worthwhile 20th-Century novelty, the decadently spoofy, very 1920s Three Pieces by Hindemith, neatly delivered by an ensemble anchored by David Howard’s wickedly witty clarinet and Zito Carno’s rollicking beer-hall piano.

Next, to compensate souls bruised by Hindemith’s bilious irreverence, came Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in a profoundly satisfying--polished and relaxed, yet mobile--presentation.

Again, Howard was its fulcrum, but integral to a rock-solid (and velvet-soft) ensemble that included what an uninformed listener might have thought was an established string quartet rather than four orchestra members on a brief outing: violinists Mitchell Newman and Lyndon Johnston Taylor, violist John Hayhurst and cellist Barry Gold.

Dvorak’s indestructible Piano Quintet, Opus 81, ushered in star time. And problem time, an unwitting acknowledgment that no matter how gifted you are, you still have to rehearse.

With distinguished guest Elisabeth Leonskaja the fiery, hands-of-steel and remarkably game pianist, the loosely crafted ensemble made rather a hash of Dvorak’s inspiration by employing unsustainably fast tempos.

Still, it was an idiomatically Slavic hash--often a very tasty one--that was supplied by the group, which also included violinists Alexander Treger (his throbbing vibrato simulating a minor earthquake) and Camille Avellano, violist Evan N. Wilson and cellist Gold.