MUSIC REVIEW : Golabek Sparkles in Piano Quintet ‘Under the Stars’

The parking can be precarious, the sightlines clogged with audience members and the summer night air moist and chilly. Still, there are good reasons to frequent the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in this outdoor season.

First-rate chamber music, for one, courtesy of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as its skilled members and some expert guests. On Monday, for the third event in the “Chamber Music Under the Stars” series, the guest was the prodigious Mona Golabek, who joined Philharmonic players in Dvorak’s Piano Quintet, Opus 81.

For intensity and real affection, plus measurably aggressive drive, this ensemble--including violinists Elizabeth Baker and Lyndon Johnston Taylor, violist Evan N. Wilson and cellist Gloria Lum--would be hard to surpass in this treasurable work. Individually, each contributed strongly to the fine, Dvorakian textures; as a group, they achieved a model give-and-take.

One could take for granted the technical accomplishments here demanded and niceties of style not always delivered by ad-hoc quintets. To this level of performance the players added what seemed a genuine love of the piece and a consistent regard for each other.

Golabek remains a pianist who creates performances at once sparkling, songful and virtuosic--and always with little apparent effort. She was the leader here, but she led subtly, without grandstanding or muscling, and with abundant musical charm.

Expert pianism also enlightened the first half of the concert, when Gloria Cheng joined flutist Janet Ferguson in Poulenc’s irresistible but exigent Sonata (1957). Granted that this is a showpiece for the flute--one that Ferguson traversed breezily--the duo produced admirable, balanced ensemble.

At mid-program, an ensemble consisting of Taylor, Ingrid Chun, Ralph Fielding, Ingrid Runde and Lum gave a pleasing run-through to Mozart’s C-major String Quintet, K. 515.