MUSIC REVIEW : From Boston, a Wake-Up Call

Every now and then, a concert re-emphasizes the standards to which musicians should aspire and stresses the affective power that a fine performance can wield. The Boston Symphony Chamber Players turned in this kind of wake-up call Tuesday night at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

The eight instrumentalists--seven principals from the Boston Symphony and Gilbert Kalish, pianist with the ensemble since 1969--did not choose an unusual program. Works by Handel, Beethoven, Poulenc and Brahms might attract the most conservative concert-goers. On this occasion, sponsored by the Laguna Chamber Music and the Orange County Philharmonic Societies, a few families with children even attended--a rare and welcome sight at chamber music series these days.

Except for Brahms’ brooding and passionate C-minor Piano Quartet, Opus 60, none of the scores held great emotional content or promised more than a pleasant evening. The Passacaglia from Handel’s Seventh Keyboard Suite, as arranged by Grieg’s contemporary countryman Johan Halvorsen for violin and viola, impresses more for its virtuosity than its depth. The Quintet for Piano and Winds, by Beethoven, offers light-textured animation and abundant melodies. Poulenc’s Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano is a fanciful romp.

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Yet the quality of playing, the level of precision and interaction, and the apparent involvement of these players lifted the experience far above congeniality. Virtuosity was a given, not an end in itself, but a means to reach a musical goal. Concertmaster Malcolm Lowe and violist Burton Fine brought plenty of showmanship to the Passacaglia, but their sensitivity and finesse commanded the stage.

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The quintet--oboist Alfred Genovese, clarinetist William Hudgins, bassoonist Richard Svoboda, hornist Charles Kavalovski and pianist Kalish--found impeccable agreement in spirit and multihued nuance. Winds spun a seamless, pensive cantabile for Beethoven’s Andante. Poulenc’s work enlivened the hall with rhythmic fun, a hint of decadence and long passages of pas de deux gracefulness.

Cellist Jules Eskin joined Lowe, Fine and Kalish for an ever-focused reading of Brahms’ Quartet, full of fire and suspense, with an intensity propelled by seemingly endless crescendos and startling unity of purpose.