By Tim Smith
The Baltimore Sun,  February 20, 2006

Music lovers are frequently spoiled for choice around here. Saturday night reiterated that point. Two worthy events vied for attention at the same hour, both, as it happened, showcasing talent with past or present connections to Peabody Conservatory.

Leon Fleisher, the eminent pianist, seasoned conductor and longtime Peabody faculty member, conducted student musicians in big-boned works of Beethoven and Brahms. Meanwhile, another Peabody faculty vet, Edward Polochick, led his choral/orchestral Concert Artists of Baltimore in a hearty salute to the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth.

Try as I might, I still haven't figured out how to be in two places at once, so I opted for the Concert Artists on Saturday at the Gordon Center in Owings Mills, and caught the Peabody Symphony Orchestra's final rehearsal Friday afternoon on campus.

The Concert Artist program offered one of Mozart's most popular piano concertos, No. 21 in C major, and one of his most ambitious and inspired sacred works, the unfinished Mass in C minor.

The concerto captures Mozart at his most outgoing and lyrical. Clinton Adams, another Peabody faculty member, tapped into those qualities with mostly satisfying results.

Although he did not produce a broad range of nuances from the keyboard, Adams shaped phrases with a good deal of style and, excepting a brief memory lapse in the finale, maintained cool technical poise. Expressly for the occasion, the pianist devised his own clever and colorful cadenzas, one of them incorporating a chorus of "Happy Birthday."

Polochick had the orchestra playing firmly and with vibrant force. A gentler approach would have been welcome here and there, though, especially in the understated conclusion of the first movement.

The C minor Mass, a miracle of inspiration that Mozart apparently began as a gift for his wife, is like Bruckner's Ninth Symphony - technically incomplete, yet note-perfect and thoroughly filling as it stands. The sheer melodic richness of the Mass is enough to make it notable; same for the brilliant instrumental writing.

In terms of cohesiveness, clarity, energy and, above all, spirit, the performance was one of the most compelling I've heard Polochick lead. Given the advantage of the Gordon Center's resonant acoustics, chorus and orchestra (each with a little over 30 members) sounded double their number, producing a ripe, beautifully balanced sound.

The tension and propulsion in the closing fugue of the Gloria section, the jaunty dance that launches the Credo, the nobility and crescendo-driven drama of the Sanctus - such passages were delivered with exceptional power by choristers and players alike.

The two hard-worked soprano soloists, Sarah Berger and Ah Young Hong (both Peabody grads, by the way), offered silken tone, limpid phrasing and confident technique. Very classy singing.

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