FESTIVAL AT CAL-ARTS TAKES A DIFFERENT TACK

The CalArts Contemporary Music Festival this year occurs during the ongoing New Music L.A. series, but trust CalArts to make a different kind of contribution. Where else could you find a contemporary music boutique, and signs urging “Relax--Be Mellow”?

Saturday, visitors entered the Main Gallery through a balloon-filled plastic tunnel and, like bemused tourists, quickly became earnestly absorbed in their program books. There was even a quite touristic display of cameras and VCRs at the more picturesque events, such as a barefoot band’s ritualistic drumming in a sand-strewn corner.

And, in the short term at least, the most memorable image of the day was largely visual--seven dancers in on-again, off-again squares of light, accompanied by coolly majestic electronic sounds.

Not that there wasn’t plenty of interesting music. But the success of “Triptych,” a 20-minute abstract ballet, owed as much to Larry Attaway’s athletic, eclectic choreography and Andrea Joseph’s deft lighting design as to Barry Schrader’s rich electronic score.

This was a case where the sum was much greater than its parts. Danced with careful, sometimes labored zeal by CalArts students, “Triptych” seemed brash, icy, entrancing, repetitious and mannered all at once. Perplexing as that may sound, it would be nice to see again.

Schrader proved that his music could stand alone with an equally intriguing Dance Suite for harp and computer. His interpretations of four old dances ranged from broadly parodistic to profoundly devolutionary, and Susan Allen handled it all with poised flair.

Composer Morton Subotnick drew an SRO crowd to the Modular Theater for two extended samples of works-in-progress. Under the circumstances, they raised more questions than they answered, particularly about the coherence of the complete pieces.

Surprisingly, Subotnick has turned to a crude minimalism for his amplified, computer-manipulated accompaniments. “Jacob’s Room” sounded like “Philip Glass Meets Zorba the Greek,” overlaid with Joan La Barbara’s alienated, horrifying narration. “Solos” added enigmatic video images by Ed Emshwiller and textless ululations to a similar sonic mix.

There were more refined joys in the pertinent, superbly meshed playing of pianist Alan Feinberg and percussionist Daniel Druckman. Performance glitches afflicted their set, which began with unconvincing arrangements of 14th-Century mannerist pieces and included Bruce Stark’s vapid “Farewell Song.”

But Charles Wuorinen’s “Percussion Duo” and Rand Steiger’s “Dialogues III,” though not new, raised the level of excitement and sophistication. Both are comprehensibly shaped, finely scored bravura vehicles, and were brilliantly played by Feinberg and Druckman.

The California E.A.R. Unit offered pieces by younger composers. Scott Lindroth’s “Relations to Rigor”--an intense, assured effort for mixed sextet and tape--and Steven Mackey’s “Crystal Shadows”--a tour de force for flutist Dorothy Stone with pianist Gaylord Mowrey--stood out for substance as well as craftsmanship.

Michael Torke’s “Yellow Pages” was an engaging bit of buoyant minimalism, with a nice lyrical touch.