MUSIC REVIEW : SYMPHONY DISHES OUT MUSICAL POTLUCK

No one is likely to accuse the San Diego Symphony of complacent, predictable programming.

Thursday night, on the heels of last week’s pair of Stravinsky odd birds, guest conductor Michael Lankester proffered a musical potluck that ran the gamut from Bach’s Third Brandenburg Concerto performed with 10 strings and harpsichord to “Taras Bulba,” a sprawling Janacek tone poem whose score spilled instrumentalists into every corner of the stage.

In between the Bach and Janecek was some early Mozart, his Symphony No. 14, and a set of Brahms’ songs for women’s voices accompanied by two French horns and harp. If it was not ideal, balanced orchestral programming, it certainly could have made an intriguing final exam for a music appreciation class.

Lankester again demonstrated that he is a precise technician on the podium, a great structural organizer who indulges in no stylistic showmanship for the gallery. This week, however, he happily revealed some emotional mettle beneath his draftsmanlike technique.

Unlike last week’s emotionally freeze-dried Stravinsky Mass, his “Taras Bulba” pulsed with blood-stirring rage and the high spirits of an exotic adventure. As usual, the orchestra responded with brash enthusiasm, albeit something less than tonal perfection. Even the outer movements of Lankester’s Mozart coursed with a sparkle and wit that left mere formal precision behind.

For the program-opening Bach concerto, concertmaster Andres Cardenes combined directing and playing the first violin part, a laudably correct 18th-Century performance practice. While he kept his scholarship kosher with only one player to a part, and while harpsichordist Hollace Koman fashioned a stylish, crisp contiuno performance, the result sounded like generic, modern orchestral Baroque playing.

After slimming down their forces, the strings foolishly attempted to generate enough sound for an entire chamber orchestra. What might have been graceful and articulate was instead forced and breathless. Koman’s elaborate cadenza around the two-chord middle movement was a resourceful solution to the problem of what to play at that point, although her solo flight was muddy.

San Diego Master Chorale conductor Frank Almond took the podium to lead his sopranos and altos--some 65 strong--in Brahms’ “Four Songs,” Op. 17. Their sound was buoyant and their attacks well-disciplined, although only the arch-Romantic rhetoric of final song gave them a chance to move beyond superficial, folk-like prettiness.

Without the well-focused, sophisticated accompaniment of harpist Sheila Sterling and principal horn Jerry Folsom, the set would have been robbed of much of its allure.