Music Reviews : OCCO Ends With an Air of Optimism

During the last few weeks, principal players from three orchestras have offered chamber-music concerts in Orange County. Those from the Pacific and Boston symphonies presented concerts that had been planned in addition to their orchestral schedules.

For the Orange County Chamber Orchestra, however, financial troubles have forced the cancellation of most of its season; in place of orchestral concerts, the group has offered a series of chamber programs. Its season-ending concert Sunday featured five members of the struggling orchestra--music director Diana Halprin, as violinist, and four of her first-chair musicians.

Chamber music by necessity, rather than choice, throws a major impediment in the way of cohesive and seasoned ensemble work. During the first half of the Mother’s Day program at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, Halprin, violist Lynn Lusher and cellist Maurice Grants could not break completely from the shackles of programming and of recent association as a trio. They did muster some convincing moments during Ernst von Dohnanyi’s Serenade in C, Opus 10, particularly during the rhythmically aggressive Rondo Finale that survived a fussy baby and applause between all five movements.

Nevertheless, the three found little focus. The Romance proceeded with busy drive but no sense of direction. During most of the piece, balance fell to Halprin and her musical sureness, even when another instrument carried the theme. Intonation did not always remain true.

Still, there was nothing funereal about this event. Halprin maintained an air of optimism throughout, assuring her small audience--less than half of the hall’s capacity of 750--that a new season was being arranged. She also used the more intimate dimensions of her forces as an excuse for some informal music education.

In the second portion of the program, with clarinetist Samuel Karam and concertmaster Joseph Goodman completing the ensemble for Weber’s Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, the quality of playing more closely matched her celebratory stance.

Karam made a witty and considerate leader in Weber’s concerto-like composition, juggling acrobatic passages with ease and unveiling a romantic aria in the Fantasia. His cohorts seemed at home with their supportive role, following Karam’s thoughtful shading attentively and engaging in good-natured dialogue.