Music and Dance Reviews : Master Chorale and Mozart at Segerstrom Hall

Segerstrom Hall proved an exhilarating place for Mozart lovers on Sunday night. The Master Chorale of Orange County and the Pacific Symphony responded with uniform precision and polish to William Hall’s meticulous, exacting direction of the Missa Brevis in D and the Mass in C minor, k. 427.

In between, pianist Clive Swansbourne proffered consummately understated artistry in the Concerto No. 21 -- delicacy, clarity of line, perfectly weighted singing tone, purling scales and arpeggios (as close to the keyboard as one is likely to see) and an impeccable trill at any dynamic level. The fanciful harmonic excursions of his first movement cadenza convinced via sheer panache.

In the Mass, Hall betrayed his splendid chorus twice: the slightly impulsive Kyrie lacked essential grandeur, while the hasty Sanctus went briefly mushy. Never mind. Majesty and grace prevailed in direction and execution. The superbly judged crescendo in the melismatic Amen of the Gloria was simply stunning.

Mezzo Catherine Stoltz employed a full voice, ringing and free at the top and viola-mellow at the bottom, with the assurance of an artist. She dispatched the treacherous fioritura of Laudamus Te with alacrity and no sacrifice of tone quality.

Jeralyn Refeld lacks the vocal maturity, technical security and musical acumen for this daunting soprano part. She barely scraped through a tentative, precarious reading of Et Incarnatus Est that suffered from distressing intonation problems and tone that turned sour as pitch ascended.

Mozart triumphed anyway.