The vast majority of Vivaldi's 500 or so concertos do little more than start here and end there in fairly predictable fashion.
So why did the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, led by Alexander Schneider, present a full program of six concertos by "The Red Priest" at Ambassador Auditorium on Wednesday?
Good question. The evening proved a relentless procession of fast-slow-fast three-movement concertos--with orchestra members as soloists--for bassoon (Kenneth Munday, suavely virtuosic), piccolo (Susan Greenberg, breath-taking and sometimes breathless), two violins (Ralph Morrison and Harold Wolf, spirited, if not always in perfect blend) and oboe (Allan Vogel, expressive and committed). A pair of string-orchestra concertos served as bookends.
Schneider, the former Budapest Quartet violinist, looked spry (at 77) as he merrily jerked and jabbed and bent his way through the scores, working without benefit of a podium.