MUSIC REVIEW : Attractive End to Chamber Series

Pianist John Novacek joined principal players from the Pacific Symphony in secure and attractive, though not memorable, showings that concluded the 1995 Chamber Music Series at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art on Friday.

The most engrossing performance came from oboist Barbara Northcutt, violist Robert Becker and Novacek, as they explored the intriguing mixture of Romantic harmonies and Impressionist figurations, in Charles Loeffler’s little-known Two Rhapsodies for Oboe, Viola and Piano.

Loeffler took his inspiration for these pieces from two poems by the French writer Maurice Rollinat (1853-1903). Both conjure up a mire of morbid imagery: “The Pond”--”the moon . . . a death’s head . . . lit from within . . . come to observe itself in a murky mirror”; and “The Bagpipe”--”There, at the place of old terrors / I always hear, moaning as before / His bagpipe.” The musicians created a gloomy chill, painted by Novacek’s varied palette and his cohorts’ somber, often quixotic, reflections.

Violinist Sheryl Staples and cellist Timothy Landauer joined Novacek for the weightiest work of the evening, the “Dumky” Trio by Dvorak. Individually, they offered effective moments--dark and gutsy solos from Landauer, tenuous and sensitive from Novacek.

As an ensemble, they failed to unite as remarkable colorists, and many potential hues went unrealized. Still, the three turned in a strong reading, rhythmically consistent, animated and crisp, with great drive and focus, if little apparent awareness of dumka folk elements.

As the foursome in Mozart’s Quartet for Oboe and Strings, K. 370, Northcutt, Staples, Becker and Landauer revealed neither great depth nor boundless joy; Northcutt, in particular, occasionally lost track of shaping during busy passages. Nevertheless, they formed an unhurried and agreeable group, and their straightforward approach contained an appealing warmth.