Music : Carl St. Clair, John Williams Open Brit Fest

A stage full of musical performers, a program featuring a passel of star names, an audience dressed to the teeth and an elegant pops concert were the main ingredients:

The British Arts Festival, a fortnight’s worth of music, related to--but ostensibly distinct from--simultaneous retail and community celebrations of things British, began with a genuinely gala concert in Segerstrom Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Saturday night.

The Pacific Symphony, led by both its new music director, Carl St. Clair, and guest conductor John Williams, gave the first salvo in this two-week festival, a symphonic program consisting mostly of bonbons, but bonbons of high quality.

It was a happy event--preceded by a reception, followed by a dinner, both optional to the festive audience of 2,500 gathered in the Center--given over largely to strong performances of short pieces.

At its jolliest moment, host Lynn Redgrave joined English baritone John Shirley-Quirk, conductor St. Clair and the orchestra in reciting three too-brief excerpts from Walton’s “Facade.”

These quickies, expertly guided by the attentive new music director, ought to serve as a down payment on a full performance of the work, perhaps on an occasion when money needs to be raised.

Other high points of the evening also came in the post-intermission: when Williams led a rousing but unstrident reading of “Jupiter” from Holst’s “The Planets”; when St. Clair conducted a touching and transparent performance of “Nimrod” from Elgar’s “Enigma” Variations; when Williams closed the program proper with a real novelty, Peter Maxwell Davies’ “An Orkney Wedding, With Sunrise,” complete with bagpipe soloist.

The rest was never less than pleasant, despite occasional fluffs from the brass, and usually authoritative.

Two national anthems began the evening, two nationalistic encores (“Scotland the Brave”--kilts there were at this event--and “Land of Hope and Glory”) ended it.

Williams led a lush reading of his own music from “Jane Eyre.” St. Clair conducted the Pacific Symphony and the huge Pacific Chorale in an excerpt from Walton’s “Belshazzar’s Feast” and another from Williams’ score to the film “Empire of the Sun.” Shirley-Quirk sang Papageno’s aria from “Zauberflote” and one of Vaughan Williams’ “Five Mystical Songs” with orchestra and chorale.

And the new season seems in full swing.