MUSIC REVIEW : Perick Leads LACO in Program of Mozart

What better to ease earthquake jitters than a concert of Mozart? But there was little ease in Cristof Perick’s Mozart Friday night, as he led his Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra at Wadsworth Theater in Westwood.

The driving force behind Perick’s Mozart is drive. He apparently likes his rhythms inflected tightly, his phrases sculpted tautly. Releases are pointed, trills compact, grace notes popped. In short, everything is pert. It’s as if Mozart were a gymnast, a samurai or an earlier incarnation of Stravinsky, not an essentially lyrical composer.

One, however, certainly can’t fault the conductor for not getting what he sets out for. These were performances polished to a sheen, if not very resplendent in the dull Wadsworth acoustic; the LACO responded nimbly to his every twitch, it seemed.

The program opened with the rich and charming Three Marches, K. 408--but Perick just stopped after two. Later, Ute Selbig, a soprano from Dresden, offered the concert arias “Misera, Dove Son?” K. 369, and “Bella Mia Fiamma, Addio!” K. 528. Her voice proved agile, gaining in blush as it went higher, and relishing leaps. She sang both works with considerable shading and poise while not quite registering their pathos.

LACO principal Kenneth Munday wrung every last bit of nuance out of the Bassoon Concerto, K. 191, even in cadenza cliches and cadential formulas. Sometimes it was too much; at others--in virtuosic moments--his strong technique won over.

Perick’s interpretation of the “Jupiter” Symphony worked best--buoyant, directional--when Mozart’s music is at its most formal. It sounded less effective and more limited where sprung rhythms don’t count as much, where gentleness and a simple tunefulness can score points all on their own.