Music Review : Under the Stars, Edith Chen Shines Bright

Programmed excerpts from Prokofiev’s ballet may have inspired the Pacific Symphony to use “Romeo and Juliet” as the title of its second concert of the summer, but the real romance at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on Saturday night came from pianist Edith Chen.

The 24-year-old--whose slight and youthful appearance might befit a Juliet--sat quite high on her bench, presumably to give better leverage for power. It didn’t work, but no matter: Grieg’s A-minor Piano Concerto can do without muscularity.

It cannot do without lyricism, though, and based on this performance, Chen’s first strength is the lyric fluidity of her playing. She left the true fortissimos and heavy accents to the orchestra, but brought a tremendous variety of dynamics to serve nonetheless. Her slow movement and other quiet moments were painted pensively, full of hushed tints applied with judicious use of pedal and of slight tempo variances.

The winner of the 1993 Ivo Pogorelich International Solo Piano Competition brought plenty of fire to the virtuosic sections, not through bravura but through bright, pristine passages and decisive rhythmic propulsion in chordal sections.

The orchestra lent tidy support, with individual flashes of sympathetic partnership from principal players Mark Adams on horn and Geraldine Rotella on flute.

Neatness characterized the orchestral role throughout the evening. In wise deference to the outdoor venue, music director Carl St.Clair programmed a festival of brass, Sibelius’ “Finlandia,” as the opening wake-up call. The musicians gave no great sweep to the work, but imbued it with much verve and attention to detail.

St.Clair also drew careful nuance from his band for Prokofiev’s ironies, brandishing deft precision in syncopated rhythms and admirable control over perpetual motion. Still, despite an affecting sectional duet between violins and violas for the balcony scene, the most involving communication came from soloists: first-chair winds, principal violist Robert Becker and acting Concertmaster Jeanne Evans, who moved up from assistant concertmaster for this occasion.

But scores of the 6,825 in attendance apparently found avoidance of departing traffic more alluring than the throes of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, for they started trooping out after music for the balcony scene, adding tumult to the following fracas depicting the fatal fight between Romeo and Tybalt.