MUSIC REVIEW : St. Clair Ventures Into Better ‘New World’

IRVINE —  The last time we heard the Pacific Symphony essay Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, it was 1988 and the orchestra was led by founding music director Keith Clark. The performance of the work was numbing, dispiriting and a muddle. Some listeners felt that they should not fault the orchestra.

Saturday, the ensemble had another go at the work at the outdoor facility, this time under Carl St. Clair, the new music director. The results--while still not ideal--showed the difference St. Clair has made since he took over last year.

Clarity, balance, proportion, careful application of dynamics, a sensitivity to purpose--all attributes we should have been able to take for granted several years ago but couldn’t--characterized the playing, both here and in works by Bruch and Berlioz.

St. Clair was making his first conducting appearance at the venue. He faced lots of new players--temporary substitutes--but evoked alert response and attention from them. He also looked a bit more settled on the podium than he has in the past.

He didn’t offer a distinctive interpretation of the “New World.” He did not persuade of its structural inevitability. He certainly did not wear his heart on his sleeve. His triumphs were not necessarily flamboyant and obvious, but they were respectable and correct.

Take, for instance, those light, clear, steady rhythms offset with glints of brass tone in the scherzo. Hardly the thing to evoke swooning admiration, but exactly what must be nailed down before flights of imagination are possible. An audience ought to be grateful.

Still, the strings continued to have problems unifying articulation, and surely everyone could have exploited more expressive phrasing.

The problems which marred Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 were of a different kind. Perhaps there had been insufficient rehearsal time to mesh St. Clair’s interpretive ideas with those of soloist Elmar Oliveira.

As it was, Oliveira somehow managed to traverse this lyrical Romantic work from an initial wistfulness (interesting) to a taut finale (not desirable), by way of some languor (inappropriate). Yes, his tone was warm, big, focused and intense, but it also lacked passion and a degree of personality.

St. Clair seemed constricted and hard-pressed to follow him at times, especially in the first section. He allowed the orchestra to blossom on its own when he could. But the results were disappointing.

The conductor succeeded in evoking a different style of playing--a light, Gallic delicacy--for Berlioz’s “Roman Carnival” Overture, which opened the program.

Apart from some tubbiness in the bass, the amplification system conveyed sound with clarity and body.

Attendance: 5,733, including a few unhappy babies and children.