Music Review : 4 Seasons Concert Fails to Blossom

The Four Seasons Orchestra hinted at a springtime of promise Sunday afternoon during its second concert, at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The young ensemble--youthful in its reorganization as well as in the apparent ages of many members--assayed large works by Dvorak and Tchaikovsky with obvious relish but only isolated moments of discerning communication.

The first-movement allegro of Tchaikovsky’s “Pathetique” Symphony convinced with stormy and foreboding insistence, achieved through biting accentuation. The group painted the lopsided waltz of the second movement in enticing colors tinted by a glimpse of throbbing darkness beneath. Thoughtful solos--several played by clarinetist Jennifer Sprague, as well as the pathos-filled passage offered by bassoonist Gerald Lanoue--testified to individual strengths.

Still, despite the urging of director Roger Hickman, such successes came as welcome clearings amid a fog of generalities and inconsistencies. The sweep of an idea might have been present but tautness and control over dynamic nuance often proved elusive. Hickman could draw powerful fortissimos from his musicians, but he had trouble restraining them to create gradual, tension-fraught pushes toward climaxes. He could command overall contrast, but not catharsis.

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Spirit and a grasp of the broad outline couldn’t save Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B Minor. A cracked horn solo made the second theme more lamentable than lamenting. Sprague began the Adagio with sturdy but unremarkable accomplishment, though she redeemed herself in the Finale. And more than once, orchestral exuberance forced the beleaguered cello soloist Bongshin Ko to fight for her say.

Nevertheless, one at least could be grateful for ardency on one side. Though cellist Ko brought plenty of technical security, even a measure of aggression, to her moment in the limelight, she rarely ventured beyond pedestrian expression. Instead of poignancy and heroicness, she delivered monochromatic solidity, devoid of mystery and romantic potency.