Chamber Orchestra Makes Small Points

A solid ensemble such as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra has a collective integrity, a group identity of very real personality. But it is still composed of individuals of demonstrable character and spirit, as music director Jeffrey Kahane and the orchestra reminded us Friday evening at Royce Hall, in the first of two weekend performances of a program tailored to make exactly that point.

There is a great deal of overlap between the repertories of chamber orchestras and their larger symphonic and philharmonic siblings. Stravinsky’s “Danses Concertantes” and Richard Strauss’ “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme” Suite, however, are ideally pitched to ensembles of this size and virtuosity. Though not invariably flawless in detail, the orchestra’s small bands of soloists worked their wonders with handsome and stylish verve.

Kahane approached these similar/dissimilar works from a standpoint of precise theatricality. He defined attitudes and actions through careful rhythmic point and crystalline textures, allowing living musical spaces for his musicians to fill with their own interpretive nuances. His Stravinsky was passionately crisp and dry, his Strauss exuberantly witty and wryly reflective.

Concertmaster Margaret Batjer headed the roster of admirable soloists; Strauss’ depiction of Moliere’s tailors is a violin concerto parody. All of the orchestra principals, however, had opportunities to display their musicality--opportunities seized with joyful commitment to the music and each other.

Not lost in this celebration of the orchestra’s talents was the gleaming, insightful playing of the program’s titular soloist, pianist Christopher O’Riley. Chopin’s F-minor Concerto is an example of the repertory shared with bigger orchestras, and Kahane brought out the full ensemble for suave, supple support of O’Riley.

For his own part, the pianist proved persuasively soulful in the twilight of the central Larghetto and brilliantly clarified and propulsive in the finale. A few split keys hardly impeded the sweep of his noble playing, rich in sound and generous in expression but refreshingly free of swooning sentimentality. In encore, O’Riley rolled aggressively through Chopin’s D-minor Prelude.