A delightful showcase of talent

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra drew from its own ranks as well as showcased guest artists for an impressive program of concertos Saturday at the Alex Theater in Glendale.

LACO violinists Josefina Vergara, Jennifer Munday, Susan Rishik and Connie Kupka reveled in the unexpected combinations of Locatelli’s Concerto Grosso in F minor, Opus 7, No. 12. Concertmaster Margaret Batjer joined guest violist Roland Kato for the West Coast debut of Britten’s Double Concerto, written in 1932 when he was a student, but not published until more that two decades after his death in 1976.

Alisa Weilerstein, who was born in 1982, was the guest soloist in Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor. Music director Jeffrey Kahane conducted.

Weilerstein made her Southern California debut in March in Irvine as part of a trio that included her mother, pianist Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, and her father, violinist Donald Weilerstein. Now, as then, she proved to be a fluent, accomplished player who applied a lot of body English to her part, although, again, the sound she produced didn’t reflect that degree of expressivity. The Prelude from Bach’s Third Suite for Solo Cello was her encore.

Britten’s piece captured the imagination from the initial horn call that signaled the arrival of a new musical voice -- one that is strong and assured , and eager to explore new territory. Batjer and Kato confidently took us on the journey through pastoral idyll to whirligig tarantella until the return and transformation of the opening motif.