MUSIC REVIEW : Symphony Gives Its Best to ‘Eroica’

SAN DIEGO —  Last week witnessed a virtual flash flood of Beethoven symphonies in local concert halls. The San Diego Chamber Orchestra appropriately started the week with the First Symphony. On Tuesday, Lorin Maazel presided over the visiting Orchestre National de France in Symphonies No. 4 and No. 5, and Leopold Hager took the San Diego Symphony through the Third (“Eroica”) Symphony on Friday.

For the record, the San Diego Symphony has no apologies to make for its Beethoven performance. Maestro Maazel’s sleek French orchestra may boast a more resounding, commanding forte, but then its roster is 20 players stronger. What the local symphony lacked in might, it amply compensated for in discipline, a warm sonority, and felicitous attention to detail. This “Eroica” also demonstrated the symphony’s notable progression this season into an integrated, cohesive ensemble with a new-found sense of security.

When Hager, an Austrian conductor based in Luxembourg, visited the local podium in 1988, he seemed lackluster and uninvolved. Although he did not come close to Maazel’s imperial authority on the podium, this time Hager fused conviction onto his thorough, workmanlike approach. His well-paced “Eroica” unfolded with grandeur, and the haunting “Marche Funebre” was a succession of exquisite moments.

Soloist Hermann Baumann navigated the solo duties in Mozart’s Fourth Horn Concerto, K. 495, with his wonted suave and seamless technique. While his spirited performance of the programmed Concerto certainly earned his stipend, the generous Baumann returned for a pair of delectable encores played on a late 18th-Century natural horn. On this instrument, without valves or keys, he recapitulated the final movement of the Mozart Horn Concerto, then played an unaccompanied fanfare.

The lithe, throaty timbre, as well as the wide range of attacks and shadings, Baumann coaxed from the natural horn would have been instructive, but the performer’s prowess and delicate artistry transcended mere antiquarian curiosity. It is no wonder the early Romantics attributed magical, even supernatural powers to this instrument.

Hager opened this program with a muscular reading of Richard Strauss’ “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks,” allowing the humor to shine through without the embarrassing indulgence that lurks beneath its glossy surface. The trombones provided brassy growls upon demand, and the expanded woodwind sections rattled the rafters with their spunky solos.