Repressed Feelings

The program was designed to show off the strings of the Pacific Symphony. And the musicians shone, meeting with robust energy and richness the demands made by guest conductor Dmitry Sitkovetsky in a four-part program Wednesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

Would that Sitkovetsky had demanded more.

It was particularly evident in Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, which closed the program, that the conductor prized sound--homogenized, “beautiful” sound--above everything else. Particularly above emotional expression.

None of the music seemed impelled or illuminated from within.

In Tchaikovsky’s Serenade, Sitkovetsky conducted long lines, without inflection, as if the object were for the musicians never to lift their bows.

He treated the composer’s repetitions of motifs and phrases in identical manner, as if neither he nor Tchaikovsky had any concept of varying expression to increase intensity.

The players met all his challenges, especially of speed, evenness and fullness. But it added up to a pleasant, occasionally vivid performance, but not one of character, drama, tragedy or poignancy.

In the role of violin soloist, Sitkovetsky turned Arvo Part’s “Fratres”--an early example of Holy Minimalism--into a virtuoso showpiece evoking the style of Spanish composer Pablo Sarasate’s themes and variations, Part intended something different, however. If there were any spirituality in Sitkovetsky’s playing, it soared past this critic.

In this piece, Sitkovetsky left the orchestra pretty much on its own except to signal critical junctures with an upsweep of his bow. The result? The musicians created a vague background wash, rather than any liturgical atmosphere. But lacking other direction, they couldn’t be faulted.

Sitkovetsky was also a virtuoso soloist in Mozart’s Concerto No. 3, playing strongly forward, if without distinct individuality except for offering his own cadenzas. Again, it was a performance of polish and surface. Again, the orchestra sounded bright and assertive, at least, it did when the conductor-soloist allowed it to.

Opening a concert in a 3,000-seat hall with Stravinsky’s “Dumbarton Oaks” Concerto, which is scored for only 15 musicians, was a miscalculation, especially as Stravinsky subdivides the group into soloist components.

Sitkovetsky created the program with Pacific music director, Carl St.Clair, undoubtedly with good intentions. The musicians need to play this kind of music. It sharpens their individual and ensemble skills. The Pacific Symphony’s audience needs to hear it because it sharpens perception and listening skills.

Plus it’s just a lot of fun. It’s full of quirky character and joyful invention, but only when it’s played confidently which, unfortunately, for the most part, was not the case Wednesday. Or perhaps too much of the effort evaporated in the vast expanses of Segerstrom Hall. Let’s have another go at it, in a smaller venue.