PHILADELPHIANS AT ROYCE HALL

Never let it be said that Riccardo Muti is less than a shrewd maestro.

In one fell programming swoop he managed to showcase his dazzling Philadelphia Orchestra, throw some soloistic plums to five of its virtuosos, and spread the American gospel--all by way of the late Alvin Etler, whose Concerto for wind quintet and orchestra opened the sold-out concert Wednesday at UCLA.

Muti and the Philadelphians were, at long last, making their Royce Hall debut on the last night of this local stand. Those who heard and marveled at Ambassador Auditorium the previous evenings surely would have to invent new words to describe the listening experience at Royce.

Here there is breathing space. Here a conductor can pump out the big, gleaming sound of his orchestral machine with perfect accommodation. Here the ears are not assaulted, yet a pianissimo pierces the air lucidly.

However, Muti does not always specialize in softness and gallantry. So when he unleashes the animal fervor of the “Kaschei” from Stravinsky’s “L’Oiseau de feu,” as he could not do at Ambassador, the music’s rhythmic tenacity makes the blood pound and grips an innocent mercilessly.

The hall reverberated with his blazing, propulsive attacks, and these, together with his total manipulation of shape and dynamic produced what must be one of the sexiest readings of this score ever.

But Muti could find just as compelling a core to the Etler Concerto (1960), which abounds in brazen, searing streams of sound and features all sorts of Bartokian emblems--an organized complexity, an instrumental daring. It is a well-crafted, grateful piece in the hands of Murray W. Panitz (flute), Richard Woodhams (oboe), Anthony M. Gigliotti (clarinet), Nolan Miller (horn) and Bernard Garfield (bassoon).

The evening ended with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, previously reviewed.