MUSIC REVIEW : Baroque Works by LACO Unit

In a day and age when discussion of authenticity of performance centers around original instruments and size of ensemble, etc., the bottom line remains whether the spirit of the music is brought to life in a convincing manner.

Thursday night at the Doheny Mansion, members of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, under the auspices of the Da Camera Society, performed a Baroque program with consistently satisfying results.

The Chaconne in G minor by Purcell opened the proceedings in a sensitive and inexorable reading, as the ground bass theme was coherently worked through its 18 variations.

Iona Brown, leader throughout the evening, demonstrated in Handel’s Sonata in D, Opus 1, No. 13, that she was at the top of her estimable form. Brown projected the rare ability to combine flawless execution and spontaneity of expression, despite the unexpected obbligato in the slow movement of a helicopter hovering over the mansion.

Brown was matched phrase for phrase by Kathleen Lenski in the ensuing Sonata in G minor for two violins and continuo, Opus 2, No. 8, of Handel. They spent nearly as much time looking at each other as at the music, an object lesson in direct communication that paid a wealth of dividends in musical enjoyment.

The high standards established to this point were not at first sustained after intermission in J.S. Bach’s Concerto in D minor for harpsichord, BWV 1052. Soloist Steven Lubin generally failed to lead the ensemble, resulting in passages that sounded like busy continuo music gone astray. Only in the finale, when Brown seemingly took charge, did the work come alive.

It turned out that the best had been saved for last: a gracious performance of Corelli’s Concerto Grosso, Opus 6, No. 8 (“Christmas” Concerto). Ubiquitous in every holiday season, the piece had been played uptown Wednesday night by the L.A. Philharmonic under Christopher Hogwood. Since both ensembles used modern instruments and differed only in number, the question comes to mind as to where the work was heard to best advantage. The nine players at Doheny Mansion certainly provided all the detail, lyricism and strength one would hope to experience in a wonderfully realized setting.