A Grand Finale

The Music Academy of the West season, packed into six summer weeks, comes and goes in a flash. But, thankfully, it’s a dense flash. Things are wrapping up with a grand flourish, a grand operatic flourish to be exact, with “The Magic Flute” this weekend, followed by the traditional Concerto Night on Aug. 15.

Both events are officially sold out, but tickets may be available the day of the performances, where last-minute attempts could be worth the effort. In between comes the final edition of “Tuesdays at Eight,” the Chamber Music series, which never fails to impress.

The opera component of the season is of much keener interest now with Marilyn Horne at the helm of the vocal department, and her first foray into opera at the academy was last year’s dazzling production of Rossini’s “Il Viaggio a Reims,” which managed to be ravishing under the Lobero Theatre’s snug circumstances.

“The Magic Flute,” a perennial favorite, promises to continue the tradition of excellence in the fledgling Horne era.

Taking Notes: Recent concerts in the academy series have been expectedly strong, and unexpectedly adventurous in programming. Two Saturdays back, conductor Jeffrey Tate led the admirable student orchestra in a program whose highlight, Witold Lutoslawski’s Fourth Symphony, tended to tower over the rest of the night.

Written in 1992, two years before the Polish composer’s death at 81, the piece was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and is some cause for regional pride. Part of its power rests in the way it transcends easy categorization. Rather than following a thematically driven course, it is a rich, exotic tapestry of sounds.

Often textural in emphasis--with assorted ensemble murmurings punctuated by brief solo statements by various musicians--it turns fleetingly melodic at times, atonal at others. It also plays on the dramatic, contrasting effect of fragmentation of the orchestra versus driving unison.

Lutoslawski’s symphony demonstrates that the orchestra need not only be a grand archival tool, but also a vital, evolutionary thing, if the commissioning powers allow it.

The evening opened with the beautifully prolonged, exhaling preamble that is Wagner’s prelude to “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.” After intermission, the orchestra brought on 19th-century propriety with Mendelssohn’s “Scottish Symphony.” It was played crisply and with feeling, but seemed entirely superfluous and a bit flat coming on the heels of Lutoslawski’s more relevant one-two punch.

A noted Brit, Tate returned to town for the seventh time. He stayed for a week of teaching, culminating in the concert, and showed commanding, sensitive leadership.

In a similar yet distinct way, last week’s Tuesday-night chamber music concert took a different left turn from standard fare. The performance opened with the genteel classical manners of a wind quintet by Franz Danzi, and closed with the Piano Quintet in F minor of Cesar Franck, both played with polish without sacrificing emotional focus--particularly in pianist Jerome Lowenthal’s reading of Franck.

But, as with the earlier orchestral concert, the meat came in the middle. Clarinetist Fred Ormand and bassist Nico Abondolo performed Morton Gould’s beguiling set of miniatures, “Benny’s Gig for Clarinet and Doublebass,” commissioned by the visionary Benny Goodman.

Gould’s music taps into jazz values, but always veering into “art music” quarters. Elements of swing propel the brisk movements, as in the final piece, “Jaunty,” but the deeper stuff comes in the slow movements, the languid repose of the passage called “Slowly” and the well-placed blue notes in “Lazily moving.” Often, the little pieces impress with their little-ness, with cryptic endings that leave us hanging, happily. Gould’s simple miniatures speak volumes.

BE THERE

* “The Magic Flute,” Friday at 7:30 and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Lobero Theatre, 33 Canon Perdido St., Santa Barbara. Tickets may be available at noon on the day of the performance, for $25 and $45; (805) 963-0761.

* Chamber Music Concert, Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the Lobero. Tickets are $23; (805) 963-0761.