MUSIC REVIEW : Viklarbo Ensemble at Loyola

If the music itself had been as good as the performances, it might have been a memorable evening. As it was, the Viklarbo Chamber Ensemble picked only half of an interesting program for its season-opening concert at Loyola Marymount’s Murphy Hall.

The first half of the concert was dedicated to music rarely heard outside of colleges and universities. Music by Gordon Jacob and Robert Muczynski hardly makes the blood boil. The second half, however, did a lot to make up for it. Thank Zoltan Kodaly for that.

Viklarbo’s choice of music Wednesday night may have been less than inspiring, but its technical accomplishment was not. Now in its third season, the ensemble has established solid musical values and gave intense and committed performances throughout the evening.

Kodaly’s Duo for violin and cello, Opus 7, was the high point of the concert. Written shortly after he began his systematic collecting of Hungarian folk song, the Duo is unceasingly lyrical, and colorfully and imaginatively scored. Above all, it is an engaging dialogue of song, in which the two performers trade material back and forth constantly. Violinist Maria Newman and cellist Sebastian Toettcher gave it a soulful, aggressive and driven performance.

Clarinetist Jeff Elmassian and pianist Wendy Prober joined Newman (now on viola) for British composer Jacob’s Trio (1969). The piece has some English-tinged folk melody in it, lots of innocuous contrapuntalism, some pleasant textures, and is eminently forgettable. Elmassian and Prober rounded out the first half with American Muczynski’s “Time Pieces” (1983), an academic exercise in wandering lines, pounding piano and metric noodling--much ado about nothing.