Usually, concert-going stimulates two senses, hearing and seeing. SummerFest’s all-Mozart program Friday, Aug. 4, at MCASD Sherwood Auditorium challenged the latter.
By the time the Piano trio in C Major, K. 548, and the Quintet in A Major for Clarinet and Strings, K. 581, had been played, this auditor had convinced herself NOT to see cellist Alisa Weilerstein’s overwrought facial and body expressions. Closing one’s eyes was not necessary, just concentration on the others, including mellow-voiced clarinet Lorin Levee, violinist Cho-Liang Lin and violist Cynthia Phelps, all of whom subscribe to the less-is-more theory.
The severe visual test came after the interval when ” after a long time of staring at the black hole of the stage ” La Jolla Music Society artistic director Christopher Beach announced that the stage lights had gone bye-bye. Obviously a computer glitch. House lights worked. Electricians and techies scurried around for some time. Patrons worried about losing sleep departed. Those eager for adventure and the rest of the program remained.
Violinist Miriam Fried and her son, pianist Jonathan Biss, agreed to play the Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major, K. 379, using the only illumination available, music stand lights plugged into an extension cord. They could see their sheet music but were seen only dimly by the audience. It was a challenging experience, bringing home to this concertgoer that the ears are quite dependent upon the eyes.
The program concluded with a magnificent reading of the String Quintet No. 6 in E-flat Major, K. 614, by Phelps and the Orion String Quartet.

Let there be light
The stage lights were fully restored in time for Saturday night’s alumni “Jam Session,” thanks to special delivery from Los Angeles and tireless work by Sherwood staff.
Hosted by National Public Radio’s Fred Child, the jam session was an abundance of riches, featuring pianists Christopher O’Riley (host of NPR’s “From the Top” and a great favorite of SummerFest audiences since 1999) and Max Levinson, a SummerFest “Rising Star” in 1990.
They played Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in E-flat Major, K. 365, conducted by SummerFest founding artistic director Heiichiro Ohyama with members of the San Diego Symphony.
Also conducted by Ohyama, Divertimento in D Major, K. 136, featured a dream team of violinists ” Sheryl Staples, Lindsay Deutsch, Bei Zhu, Arnold Steinhardt, Lin and Chee-Yun. Violists Phelps and Shirley Ho, cellists Sumire Kudo and Felix Fan and bassist Greg Berton provided heft in this magnificent reading by former and current Rising Stars.
Lin and Chee-Yun delighted the audience with Andy Stein’s “Dueling Fiddles,” with Lin and pianist O’Riley providing extra levity with their “country” attire.
The program began with Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat Major for Strings, Opus 20, and also included Ludwig Maurer’s melodious and brilliant Sinfonia Concertante for Four Violins and Strings in A Major, Opus 55. Ohyama conducted members of the San Diego Symphony and violinists Staples, Deutsch, Steinhardt and Zhu. Maurer’s life (1789-1878) spanned an era influenced by composers from Mozart to Mahler.
It was a rare treat to hear this largely forgotten German violinist/composer, who was born in Potsdam but lived most of his life in St. Petersburg.
From the standpoint of programming and personnel, the jam session may have been an embarrassment of programming and personnel riches, but it was an appropriate part of SummerFest’s ongoing celebratory 20th anniversary season.
SummerFest continues through Aug. 20. For information, schedules and tickets, visit www.lajollamusicsociety.org or call (858) 459-3728.