MUSIC REVIEWS : Emanuel Ax and Friends Think Small

The Chamber Music Society of the Los Angeles Philharmonic serves a noble, idealistic, healthy purpose.

It affords visiting celebrities a rare opportunity to forswear the heroic flourish in favor of the intimate gesture. It allows members of the orchestra--and not just the first-desk chieftains--an exposed moment of potential glory. It gives the public a welcome chance to savor the delicacies of introspection.

That doesn’t mean, however, that all chamber-music ventures by the Philharmonic are models of ensemble virtue. It takes a long time for any group of musicians to think and breathe, not to mention phrase, as one. If the group is very small, moreover, there may be no place to hide any discrepancies of timbre, attack or nuance.

Under the circumstances, Philharmonic chamber-music concerts often turn out to be more notable for lofty intentions than for exquisite performances. The assembled spirits, no doubt, are always willing, no doubt. Unanimity of execution, however, has to be a sometime thing.

And so it was on Monday in the rather dry acoustic of University Synagogue in Brentwood, which is providing a temporary haven for the series in the wake of earthquake damage to Gindi Auditorium.

The stellar guest was Emanuel Ax, a popular virtuoso who was persuaded to linger in town an extra day after playing large-scale Haydn and Stravinsky with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonic at the Music Center. The pianist was joined by stalwarts from the ranks in contrasting trios of Poulenc and Beethoven, with a string duo by Mozart serving as program centerpiece.

The programming was sophisticated, to be sure. Much of the playing was elegant. All of it was competent. Still, revelations remained elusive.

Poulenc’s Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano, written in 1926, is a taut exercise in Gallic whimsy--dashing, gently abrasive, deceptively nonchalant. It demands muted bravura from three players of equal expressive output.

On this occasion, the players, though eager and able, seemed separate and unequal. Ax played loud, tough and fast, like someone in fear of missing a train. David Weiss’ oboe dealt primarily in piercing assertion, in contrast to the mellow restraint of David Breidenthal’s bassoon.

Although these three blazed through the sprightly finale with splendid, feverish impetuosity, getting there was not half the fun. Gentle charm tended to get lost in the scramble.

The sensitive protagonists in Mozart’s B-flat Duo, K. 424, were Lyndon Johnston Taylor, violin, and Dale Silverman, viola. He played with remarkable poise and wispy yet subtly shaded tone. She played smoothly, generously and a bit stodgily. There was more give here than take.

Ronald Leonard, the formidable principal cellist of the Philharmonic, joined Taylor and Ax in Beethoven’s Trio in D major, Opus 70, No. 1, a.k.a. “Ghost.” One had to admire the generalized sweep of the collaboration, even if Ax’s grandeur sometimes proved unyielding and intonation problems sometimes proved disconcerting.

Chamber music is hard work.

* Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber Music Society’s remaining concerts (different programs) April 25, May 23 and 30 at 8 p.m., Kopelson Family Sanctuary, University Synagogue, Brentwood. Tickets $20 at Music Center box office. Telephone (213) 365-3500.