Finding a formula for Mozart

Earlier this year, Bernard Labadie and his expert early-music ensemble from Quebec, Les Violons du Roy, accompanied mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena in the sharply detailed acoustics of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. On Thursday, we heard them in Costa Mesa’s new, acoustically evolving Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.

For this concert -- an all-Mozart choral affair -- the maple-paneled doors to the hall’s deep-blue reverberation chambers were thrown open wider than in previous concerts. When the small choir, La Chapelle de Quebec, and chamber-sized Les Violons du Roy erupted in full cry, the sound took on cathedral-like dimensions that made 30 voices sound like more than 100.

Labadie has found a close-to-ideal hybrid format for the Mozart Requiem -- or more accurately in this edition, the Mozart/ Sussmayr/Robert D. Levin Requiem. The instruments were modern, the attacks were period-performance style tempered with mild vibrato, the tempos were fast but never overdriven. Labadie’s four vocal soloists -- soprano Helene Guilmette, mezzo-soprano Michele Losier, tenor Colin Balzer and baritone John Fanning -- blended seamlessly.

With these ingredients in place, and the orchestra and chorus in top unified form, the Requiem generally went very well. Yet in the two most emotionally powerful spots in the score, something was missing. There was little fervor and sheer terror to be felt in the Dies Irae, and the heartbreaking Lacrimosa seemed merely plaintive despite being crowned by Levin’s impressive fugue.

To balance the program, Labadie included two contrasting Mozart choral works: the brief yet caressing “Ave Verum Corpus” and “Vesperae Solennes de Confessore,” which, despite its intimidating title, is mostly joyous and lively. In the latter, again Labadie displayed his skill in keeping the pulse moving without the sense of pushing hard.