Enjoying Sunday in the Park With Beethoven

A concert is never a purely musical event, as Symphony in the Glen reminded us Sunday with the opening of its fifth season of free concerts. For the afternoon, the Old Zoo Picnic Area in Griffith Park became a sort of people’s Hollywood Bowl, as a large and diverse audience--including active contingents of children and dogs--partied on blankets to the godfather of symphonies-as-sociological-statements, Beethoven’s Ninth.

The attractions were obvious--people-watching, killer tunes and the peace-and-brotherhood message of the “Ode to Joy” finale. For all of that, however, the Ninth Symphony remains a serious and substantial test of both music-making skills and listening focus.

Happily, Symphony in the Glen generally met the challenges. Intermittent glitches aside, the crucial sound system was better than many at outdoor events, which is to say that it did not sound like AM radio on a boombox with torn speakers; it sounded like a perfectly fine boombox.

Chief among the musical pleasures was an athletic Scherzo and the appreciably detailed wind solos of its Trio section. Conductor Arthur Rubinstein led an alert, professional pickup orchestra in a performance that seemed to thrive within conventional interpretive parameters.

Least flattered by the amplification were the vocal soloists, soprano Maurita Phillips-Thornburgh, mezzo-soprano Mara Baygulova, tenor Sal Malaki and baritone Wayne Shepperd. The baritone and tenor solos came through with an emphasis on stentorian fervor, but the conflicting oscillations of four wide vibratos reduced the final quartet to an amorphous quiver.

A chorus consisting of Cantori Domino, the Glendale Adventist Academy Choir and members of the West Hollywood Chorale sang with conviction and reasonable rhythmic point under the circumstances.