Just Who Are the Real Stars?

The first major event in the fifth annual Henry Mancini Institute season at the Wadsworth Theatre Saturday night would have benefited from a bit more participation by the program’s talented array of young professional artists.

The only portion of the evening devoted to the HMI Orchestra took place in a relatively brief opening segment. And the only substantive music was a collection of pieces from Leonard Bernstein’s “On the Town.” Conductor Charles Floyd’s transcription of portions from the Miklas Rozsa score for the film “King of Kings” closed the opening segment in the sort of colorful movie music-oriented fashion usually associated with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

The balance of the evening was dedicated to showcase appearances by singer Monica Mancini and the Terence Blanchard Quintet. Although the HMI Orchestra provided well-played accompaniment for both starring acts, there were far too many passages in which the young players were obliged to simply sit on stage, holding their instruments, while the name artists did their thing.

Mancini’s considerable vocal skills were on full display in a tribute to Johnny Mercer, especially when she opened with a brilliant version of “Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive,” singing along to a recording of her own multitrack vocal passages. Closing, appropriately, with a sweetly poignant rendering of “Moon River”--which her father, Henry Mancini, wrote with Mercer--she affirmed the value of good musical genes.

Blanchard concentrated on numbers from his recent album, “Let’s Get Lost,” offering pieces such as “Too Young to Go Steady” and “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love” in instrumentals that contrasted with the recording’s performances by various guest singers. Blanchard and tenor saxophonist Brice Winston soloed with passion and intensity.

With the HMI players having arrived in town only earlier in the week, it’s understandable that there was little time to organize a significant program of music. Still, the preparation time might have been better split between their dual roles as accompanists and featured musicians.