Chamber Lite at Huntington Library

Summertime repertory is generally unchallenging, and the musical public seems to like it that way. But the opening concert in the 1998 Southwest Chamber Music series at the bucolic Huntington Library in San Marino--given in the almost-outdoor Loggia of the art gallery, overlooking broad lawns, tall trees and fragrant flowers--almost made a vice of this virtue.

Or perhaps it was the unprobing nature of the performances, in a program offering Spanish and Spanish-flavored solo-piano works by Falla and Debussy, a duo by Ravel and a trio by Granados, that made the program seem so lightweight.

Conscientious, even stylish playing by pianist Susan Svrcek, violinist Agnes Gottschewski and cellist Maggie Edmondson did not save a weak agenda, though more compulsion, more pertinent detailing and higher energy might have helped.

But, maybe not. Granados’ Piano Trio, hardly a well-known work, seems, on the basis of this literal and clean Friday night performance, to deserve its lack of fame. It has tunes, good opportunities for instrumental display, a nice sweep throughout its four mellow movements. But it is cotton-candy light, a mere snack of empty musical calories.

More content-rich, Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello is still not exactly satisfying for serious musical carnivores. Its charms are many; on this occasion they had to suffice as the main course of the evening.

A good but not completely resourceful Yamaha piano and the outdoor setting--not conducive to projecting many artistic subtleties--challenged pianist Svrcek greatly in Falla’s French-named “Quatre Pieces Espagnoles,” and the three, usually irresistible parts of Debussy’s “Estampes.” The magnificent view from the Loggia notwithstanding, one still wished for four wood walls off which to bounce this music.