MUSIC REVIEW : Litton Leads Philharmonic

We are familiar with Andrew Litton from three seasons at Hollywood Bowl, where the young conductor produced the mixed results not uncommon to music in the park. Thursday, he made his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, fulfilling all the promises made outdoors.

The centerpiece of the program was Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto. Litton did not reduce the orchestra as much as is fashionable, and supported soloist Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich in virtually a throwback performance to the days of big thoughts and steel fingers.

Bishop-Kovacevich blitzed the outer movements with surgical precision and clarity, poised and noble if also rather tight-lipped for the humor of the finale. At the core was a surpassingly mellow Largo, unabashedly soulful and lyrically sustained.

The effort was not oblivious to the influence of the early music practitioners in details, but reminded us of viable alternatives. Litton kept the accompaniment clean and clear, and thoroughly energized.

After intermission, Litton and the full orchestra turned to the “Spring” Symphony of Schumann. This too was an outsize performance, in sound and spirit. It was a youthful spring, a bustling, busy, slightly strident attempt to say and do everything at once.

In that, it does not miss Schumann’s intentions by much. The Philharmonic gave Litton his big, hard-hitting sound, and a rich assortment of solo playing. The violins had intermittment troubles with the scampering passages at Litton’s breathless tempos, but the cumulative results were generally even.

The concert began with the local premiere of Andrew Waggoner’s “The Train,” an eventful if not very involving exercise in scoring effects.