Mozart Orchestra Shows Brisk Strength

The Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra had finished tuning, but the soloist could be heard continuing the process offstage at the Wilshire-Ebell Theatre for some minutes afterward. In retrospect, even before she made her entrance Saturday night, Michelle Makarski’s pinpoint tuning hinted at the technical perfectionism that would mark her solo in the Violin Concerto in D by Beethoven.

Makarski offered a no-nonsense, forthright performance, with great assuredness, stellar passage work and powerful rhythmic anchoring. She found a logical elegance to the piece, which she conveyed without excess. She chose Fritz Kreisler’s tour de force cadenzas.

Some poetry would have been welcome, however. Music director Lucinda Carver noticed the lyricism, suspense and reverie in the work, so that side could be glimpsed through the orchestral episodes.

On this occasion, members of the orchestra could not boast of consistent polish--the violin section had its weak moments--but they could brag about an engaging level of animation, particularly in a spritely reading of Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony. Urged on by Carver’s demonstrative conducting, they disclosed its pert charm, melodramatic strength and graceful melodies.

A crisp performance of the overture to “The Impresario” by Mozart provided the bracing opening.