MUSIC REVIEW : Orchestra Spotlights Precocious Talent : The Orange County chamber group’s ‘Magical Mozart’ program features soloists who are or were unusually gifted children.

The Orange County Chamber Orchestra closed its 10th season Thursday with a concert that revolved around the phenomenon of the child prodigy.

The program, titled “Magical Mozart” and given in the Irvine Barclay Theatre, consisted of four works, arguably by the most formidable precocious talent in Western music history, and featured soloists who had been--or are--unusually gifted children.

Mozart wrote three of the selections as a teen-ager and produced the fourth, “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” K. 525, in 1787, four years before his death.

The earlier works--Symphony No. 16, K. 128, Violin Concerto No. 4, K. 218 and Piano Concerto No. 5, K. 175--exhibit the elegance, playfulness and craftsmanship that Mozart would later blend with a flair for operatic drama and a gift for masterful expression.

In comparison, the light sampling of his mature output offered here emerged as a demanding, dramatic undertaking.

During the later composition, music director Micah Levy drew the ensemble’s most attentive performance of the evening, full of well-directed phrasing, lively dialogue between sections and minute control of dynamics. And while intonation was not always perfect, the seven violinists had less disagreement than earlier, in a rough-edged performance of the symphony.

Concertmaster Diana Halprin offered a stylish and energetic reading of the violin concerto, with which she had made her debut as a 7-year-old Wunderkind with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Yet despite the involving command of Halprin’s performance, the biggest draw on this occasion--judging by the unusual number of children accompanying their parents to this event and by the only standing ovation--came not from her established artistry, but from the (implied) promise of being among the first to recognize youthful genius in little Arthur Abadi.

He certainly stands out among 8-year-old pianists. Whether Abadi possesses prodigious talent remains to be seen, but an easy facility and basic musicality are obvious.

It is hard, however, not to fear excessive early exploitation--before he can find depth or a palette of pianistic colors, before he can develop an artist’s sense of timing--especially when the promotional packaging, right down to the long mane of curls and the formal tail coat, is so precious.