CONCERT WITH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA : RAMPAL AND FRIENDS PLAY CONCERTOS

Sharing the spotlight with a trio of friends, Jean-Pierre Rampal battled the odds and brought off a full evening of Baroque and early Classical concertos Monday night in Segerstrom Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Not that Haydn, Cimarosa, Handel, Vivaldi and Mozart didn’t write lively, tuneful solo vehicles--it’s just that a five-part program built around the formula-heavy genre of the early concerto can become wearisome in the wrong hands. The music offered on Monday--and repeated Tuesday at Ambassador Auditorium--was decidedly in the right hands.

The veteran French flutist brought his customary lush tone and ample technique to every work he touched, while serving as capable time-beater for the reduced forces of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Two longtime collaborators lent their expected expertise to the occasion: John Steele Ritter teamed with Rampal in a joyous traversal of a Vivaldi concerto for flute and organ (in this instance a small, muted portable instrument), and Pierre Pierlot chirped away amiably with his countryman in forgettable flute-oboe concertos by Haydn and Cimarosa.

All very nice. Yet, there was also some magic in Segerstrom on Monday, courtesy of a French harpist named Marielle Nordmann.

In Handel’s familiar Concerto in B-flat and Mozart’s Flute-Harp Concerto, the statuesque musician revealed a rich, noble tone that easily carried through the spacious hall--aided, of course, by Handel’s nearly total separation of solo and tutti voices. There was cherishe1679848309melodies were spun with loving care, dynamics and phrasing were shaded with a keen ear to the composer’s intent. Her cadenza in the central movement proved a stunning display of bravura.

In Mozart, Nordmann seemed to bring out the best in Rampal, who produced his most inspired playing of the evening.

Perhaps sensing the specialness of the occasion, the Orange County Philharmonic Society audience responded with rapt attention, silence between movements and enthusiastic applause where it was most warranted.

The chamber orchestra--minus continuo parts, alas--provided steady accompaniment under Rampal’s occasional nods and waves. Concertmaster Paul Shure served as leader in the Handel concerto while Rampal took his only respite of the evening.

The tireless flutist returns with the above friends, and then some, in chamber programs at Ambassador on Thursday and Saturday.