Music Reviews : Larrocha Rewards the Bowl Faithful

On Wednesday, for the second concert of its weeklong residency at Hollywood Bowl, Radio Symphony Berlin again was unable to provide consolation for the absence of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from its summer home.

There was, however, the rewarding presence of Alicia de Larrocha as soloist in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, with the lively, supportive podium backing of Vladimir Ashkenazy.

While Larrocha is hardly at a loss with Ravel’s jazzy riffs, the key to her interpretation remains the subtlety of touch and rhythmic inflection she brings to its meditative portions, notably the dreamy central adagio , where her playing meshed flawlessly with that of the Berliners’ commanding flute soloist.

Elsewhere in the Ravel, however, one had to lament other solo wind-playing both scrawny in tone and mechanically rough, and for which Larrocha’s unflappable professionalism and Ashkenazy’s attentive leadership could not fully compensate.

There were similar distractions in the opening selection, Mendelssohn’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” Overture, where buoyant string execution was subverted by ill-timed oboe, bassoon and brass entrances.

What might seem an insuperable challenge to such struggling forces, the bleak, lengthy, texturally exposed 10th Symphony of Shostakovich, in actuality offered the most polished execution of the evening.

What the performance had, above all, was Ashkenazy’s patient, focused leadership. Conducting without score, Ashkenazy may have taken his time but never allowed tension or momentum to flag. And, wisely, he played to his orchestra’s principal strength, its upper strings, while allowing the music to unfold as naturally as its none-too-obvious structure permits.

As a whole--and there was an inescapable feeling of unity here--it came off splendidly, with woodwinds on best behavior and the brass, while deficient in the dark richness we expect for this music’s growly underpinnings and walloping climaxes, proving equal to the difficult task.

An audience officially tabulated at 8,901 proved remarkably attentive, if rarely secure as to when applause was appropriate.