MUSIC REVIEW : Pacific Symphony Stages Own Homecoming at Santa Ana High

SANTA ANA — It was, in the words of the eminent music critic Yogi Berra, deja vu all over again. Well, sort of.

The Pacific Symphony was back at Santa Ana High School on Friday to play a free Hispanic community outreach concert. For years, the 1,578-seat school auditorium had been the symphony’s home before the opening of the Orange County Performing Arts Center in 1986.

Outside, rows of single-family houses have given way to an elementary school and green, fenced-in playing fields. Inside, the bright and forward acoustics and the lack of amenities have remained the same. On the podium, the era of Pacific founding music director Keith Clark has yielded to that of Carl St. Clair, whose contract has just been extended another five years, through 1998.

Addressing the audience in what sounded like reasonably idiomatic Spanish, St. Clair cordially introduced the two soloists--soprano Laura Fries and the orchestra’s principal flutist Louise DiTullio--and the music.

He prefaced Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet” Overture-Fantasy by denominating themes of struggle, love and death--he used the Spanish words--and followed each with a musical quotation. What a surprise, then, to find that he had cut more than half of this irresistible work, to start by leaping right to the final battle section.

Well, there are differing philosophies of offering popular concerts and this one, with works also by Chabrier, Bizet and Villa-Lobos, inclined toward the bright, fast, showy and loud.

For showy, DiTullio played a fantasy on Bizet’s “Carmen,” arranged for James Galway. The piece does not reflect the drama nor try to turn the flute into a “character,” but merely provides a frame for some virtuoso folderol on the popular tunes.

Despite a baby bawling in the audience, DiTullio managed to maintain her concentration and played fluently. St. Clair accompanied considerately.

For loud and fast, St. Clair led Chabrier’s “Espana” and the final two movements of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.

In contrast, Fries brought a silvery soprano to Villa-Lobos’ “Bachianas Brasileiras” No. 5. Although her voice tended to evaporate in the lower range, she sang lyrically and did not appear flustered by St. Clair’s hovering over her, over-conducting.

The work also marked the first opportunity to hear the sensitive, poised and expressive playing of Timothy Landauer, 29, who has just been appointed principal cello of the orchestra.

There were two encores: Marquina’s “Espana Cani” and Lara’s “Granada.”