MUSIC REVIEW : Rare Philharmonic Baroque Program

Baroque music has become an arena in the grip of political correctness these days--the authentic performance-practice movement having seen to that.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic generally deals with the touchy subject by avoiding it altogether, but Thursday night in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion the orchestra braved the dangerous musicological waters with a program of Handel, Corelli and Vivaldi.

There was something half-hearted about the attempt. The de rigueur requirements of a reduced orchestra--25 players in all--and a harpsichordist-conductor were met, but further obeisances to authenticity apparently were deemed unnecessary.

No period-music specialist, local or otherwise, was engaged to oversee the proceedings. Instead, we got the relatively inexperienced Grant Gershon, assistant conductor and principal pianist with the Music Center Opera. He kept things moving neatly but seemed an innocuous interpretive presence. As a harpsichordist too, he barely made a blip, the wide expanses of the Music Center and the steely strings of the Philharmonic effectively minimizing his impact.

So, it proved a pleasant but not a thought-provoking or invigorating evening. The concert opened with the Allegro--why not the whole thing?--from the Sinfonia to Handel’s “Saul,” in a rhythmically square but dynamically sensitive run-through. The very likely spurious Oboe Concerto in G-minor by Handel followed--why not a bona fide Baroque concerto?--with principal oboist David Weiss the smooth, consistently expressive soloist, Gershon and strings accompanying unobtrusively.

Corelli’s “Christmas” Concerto received an alert and graceful although not exactly stylish reading, with plenty of vibrato from the concertato group, long phrases and sturdy rhythms.

After intermission, concertmaster Sidney Weiss took on Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” Making no pretense whatsoever to a historically informed performance, Weiss played the concertos in his accustomed patrician manner: clean, brilliant and forceful in the allegros, firm and dry-eyed in the more songful moments. The orchestra offered spirited, forthright support. It was thoroughly effective, as far as it went.