BOWL DEBUT : FISCHER CONDUCTS 20TH-CENTURY WORKS

Making his Hollywood Bowl debut, Hungarian conductor Ivan Fischer led the Los Angeles Philharmonic through a substantial 20th-Century program in the outdoor amphitheater on Tuesday night. And banished the doldrums of recent Bowl weeks.

Fischer had made a comparable indoor debut with the orchestra, in April, 1983, substituting for the indisposed Carlo Maria Giulini and producing a strong first impression in programs devoted to, among other things, five major works of Brahms.

The 35-year-old musician, who holds posts in England as well as in Eastern Europe, bolstered that impression Tuesday in an agenda comprising Ravel’s “Rapsodie Espagnole,” Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini and the 1947 version of Stravinsky’s “Petrushka.” In each of these, Fischer elicited playing of character, color, atmosphere and urgency from the Philharmonic. In the many solo passages in Stravinsky’s ballet-score, for instance, each of the featured instrumentalists produced telling and articulate moments, with no loss of tautness in the longer line.

In Ravel’s intricate orchestral canvas, every detail seemed perfectly placed, as well as cannily meshed with its surrounding elements. And the larger components --the overall dynamic scheme, the pacing, the flow of ideas--made sense. Most important, the Philharmonic players contributed to the total performance attentively and energetically.

At mid-program, Alexander Toradze was the catalyst in a rousing and virtuosic reading of Rachmaninoff’s “Paganini” variations, one apparently accomplished in a single breath, certainly with all participants solidly attuned to each other.

Toradze, as he has shown in previous appearances, is a powerhouse of technique and musical directness. His conquest of this pianistic marathon was achieved hurdle by hurdle and with ease and a full measure of adrenaline. If Toradze slighted some of the composer’s lyricism and failed to characterize each separate variation distinctly, he still made the work his own; the polish can follow.

Throughout, Fischer again proved himself a collaborator of substance and genuine sensitivity, one who oversees (overhears, actually) tight and apprehendable musical structures.

Attendance: 9,816.