Leading Voice

The Ojai Camerata story thus far: Charles McDermott led the humble but enterprising vocal group for five seasons, starting in 1992. Then the group, which has performed both standard and refreshingly not-so-standard repertoire throughout its history, went through a transition period last year, with a succession of different guests acting as directors.

This weekend, the new Ojai Camerata will be unveiled, with local composer Miguel del Aguila at the helm. Del Aguila directed the group once a year ago and has been pressed into service as the regular head, which bodes well for the group. He’s a demanding force with a keen interest in vocal music, as well as a repertoire of 20th century and multicultural music, especially from Latin America, that underrated hotbed of serious musical activity.

At Ventura City Hall on Friday and the Ojai Presbyterian Church on Saturday, the first of three Camerata programs this season will be presented under the title, “The Romantics of Three Centuries.” They’ll perform music by Faure, Vivaldi, Samuel Barber and an abridged version of the Brecht/Weill opera, “The Rise and Fall of the City Mahagonny.”

Come March, the Camerata’s concert has the self-explanatory title “Cher Maurice-Dear Ravel.” In May, composer del Aguila’s sly wit will come to bear with the premiere of his short opera, “Composer Missing.” This season, the composer, who has written another piece for the New West Symphony’s next program on Nov. 22 and 23, is hardly missing.

Symphonic Poignancy: The second program of the Santa Barbara Symphony season wound up being locally relevant in more ways than one, graced with an aura of sad repose. A keynote piece was Michael Tilson Thomas’ “From the Diary of Anne Frank,” which tied into a current major exhibition at the Karpeles Museum. Frank’s face can be seen on banners all over town this fall.

But there was another, unexpected tribute on the program, when conductor Giselle Ben-Dor dedicated Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings to the late Rep. Walter Capps. The admired man in Washington had died unexpectedly Oct. 28 and inspired waves of sorrow around town. He received a fitting musical nod at the Arlington Theatre. Ben-Dor commented from the stage that Capps, a music lover who supported local cultural organizations, had committed to playing his tuba at the Symphony’s New Year’s Eve concert.

The Barber piece is one of those hauntingly beautiful staples in the repertoire that strikes the listener upon repeated hearings. In the orchestra’s capable hands, Barber’s long, plaintive lines and emotionally wrought structure achieved a level of mysticism.

Tilson Thomas composed the Frank piece in 1990, with Audrey Hepburn supplying narration. In Santa Barbara, Millie Perkins, who played Anne Frank in the 1959 movie, read passages that were ominous and moving--often because of the aura of hope in Frank’s voice, in contrast with the ineffable horror of the holocaust. As a piece of music, though, it doesn’t really work. Tilson Thomas too often generically decorates the text, keying off such power words as “forbidden” and “nature,” rather than adding any new meaning to such a powerful piece of literature.

Under the circumstances, it was wise to reverse the order of the program, tackling the substantive pleasantry of Mahler’s 4th Symphony in the concert’s first half. It’s an idealistic opus, less angst-ridden than Mahler’s other symphonies. The inherent lustiness of the second movement was achieved by the inclusion of “mistuned violin,” played with relish by the ever-game concertmaster Gilles Apap. Soprano Elissa Johnston gave a polished reading of the Mahler-ized folk tune “Sehr behaglich” to close.

Johnson returned for an encore (ending the inverted first half), as the band struck up the tender-yet-bold strains of the Strauss lullaby, “Wiegenlied.”

*

Camerata Report, Take Two: For the second program of its expanded concert season in its usual Santa Barbara and Ventura County venues, the Camerata Pacifica took it easy last week. There was solid music-making without fanfare or much in the way of risk-taking.

The first half of the concert showcased the group’s fearless and charming leader, flutist Adrian Spence, playing dashingly on forgettable material. Young Irish composer Philip Hammond’s Sonatina for Flute and Piano, a neo-romantic work whose charms are nowhere in particular, was composed to show off the considerable skills of flutist James Galway (who will perform a benefit for the Camerata Pacifica on April 2).

Aided by pianist Joanne Pearce Martin, Spence sailed through the challenging piece without flinching. He did likewise on the swooping and bombastic Sonata for Flute and Piano, Opus 167, “Undine” of Carl Reinecke, a bona fide 19th century romantic.

Things got emotionally meatier in the second half, on the Brahms’ Quintet in B minor for Clarinet and Strings, Opus 115, with clarinetist Emily Bernstein handling the protagonist’s role nicely. It was an evening of affirmation rather than adventure.

BE THERE

* Ojai Camerata, Friday at 8 p.m. at the Ventura City Hall foyer, 501 Poli St. in Ventura, and Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Ojai Presbyterian Church, 304 N. Foothill in Ojai. $12; $9 students and seniors. (805) 289-4890.