MUSIC AND DANCE REVIEWS : L. B. SYMPHONY AT THE TERRACE

There were, thankfully, no speeches. None were necessary, since the mere fact that the Long Beach Symphony was assembled onstage at the Terrace Theater on Saturday spoke eloquently enough to the multitudes gathered to welcome the ensemble back from the brink of fiscal collapse.

Last year, after only two concerts, the orchestra’s season was ended. Now, following restructuring and accelerated fund-raising, the Long Beach Symphony--the New Long Beach Symphony, boasted the program--has returned. The season, not surprisingly, is brief. But both the program and the playing on Saturday indicated that Murry Sidlin and his charges will not be content, like the neighboring Queen Mary, to sit still, snug and safe in dry dock.

The agenda boasted nothing as symbolic as the “Resurrection” Symphony. But, in Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms,” Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” and Elgar’s “Enigma” Variations, there was music of a bold and thought-provoking nature.

The Elgar work proved the evening’s standout, buoyed by some top-notch string playing and a ravishing “Nimrod” Variation. Sidlin skillfully built, then relaxed, tension and never allowed continuity to drag. Such, alas, was not the case in what seemed to be the longest “Appalachian Spring” in memory. While tempos were never unduly slow, the overall pace seemed subdued and aimless.

Sidlin, perhaps, chose to begin the concert with “Chichester Psalms” because of its uplifting opening lines: “Awake, psaltery and harp! I will rouse the dawn!” Or maybe he just wanted to demonstrate his new podium dance, the Bernstein Boogie.

In any case, the jazzy rhythms and massive choral textures (belted out crisply, enthusiastically and, in the somber finale, reverently by the choirs of Cal State Long Beach) made for a splendid curtain-raiser. Attacks might not have been in perfect unison, and countertenor Lee Vail may have been found wanting in projection and focus, but energy and commitment took up the slack.

Here’s one vote for the Long Beach Symphony as comeback players of the year.