Music Review : Percussionist Glennie in Impressive Recital

On the index of underappreciated and unsung instrumentalists, percussionists certainly rank high. Because of that, the incidence of a high-profile percussion recital such as Evelyn Glennie’s, in Ambassador Auditorium on Thursday, becomes a definitively special event.

Glennie, who made a strong impression at Hollywood Bowl in recent seasons, appeared with adept pianist Philip Smith. On an especially rich-toned marimba and various drums, Glennie showed a startling instrumental command, without the intellectual rigor to match.

To open, Glennie literally jogged across the stage, attending to the perpetually mobile challenges of a brisk and breathless arrangement of Chopin’s Etude in C-sharp minor. For new music, she brought out John Psathas’ roiling energy flow, “Matre’s Dance” and Neil Rosauro’s dull, too-easy-to-swallow Concerto for Marimba. Glennie also sprinted through her arrangements of virtuosic violin music by Monti and Saint-Saens. And the crowd went wild.

But a wild crowd does not always good music make, and something was missing from much of this abidingly palatable program. Glennie tried hard--too hard, at times--to keep the troops entertained, at the expense of thoughtful music and considered explorations of the state of contemporary percussion.

Dazzling technical flourish aside, the evening’s apexes came slowly, darkly. Glennie’s “A Little Prayer” glows with lustrous, hymn-like cadences, and her improvisations on Kaiko Abe’s “Ichi” amounted to the high point of the concert.

All things considered, it came as no surprise that she served, as confectionary encores, a dollop of Scott Joplin and “Flight of the Bumblebee.” The notes came fast, furious, and with a superhuman precision. It made us long for a little more humanity.