EARLY INTERMISSION : DAMPNESS BEFALLS BOWL CONCERT

Comfortable predictability is the charm of Hollywood Bowl. We expect familiar names and faces on the roster of guests with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. We know in advance that the amplification system is subject to the vagaries of climate, humidity and human hearing. We accept recycled symphonic repertory weighted heavily with pops chestnuts.

But moisture from the skies, the kind of moisture--call it mist or drizzle or rain--that appeared Thursday night when conductor Ivan Fischer and pianist Alicia de Larrocha both returned to Cahuenga Pass with the Philharmonic, such wetness does not fall within our happy expectations.

Nevertheless, it came. It actually started before the beginning of the 8:30 concert, but increased in intensity to the point where, at 9:19, during the slow movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C, K.467, both soloist and conductor stopped the proceedings. Then, Ernest Fleischmann, executive director of the Philharmonic and general director of the Bowl, announced an early intermission.

The Mozartean second movement was resumed shortly after 9:45, and the concert went forward to its conclusion. Unfortunately, a great number of listeners (Philharmonic management had counted 10,557 prior to intermission) chose to leave the Bowl during the early break. Though the drizzle continued, it had reached its peak before the resumption.

As always happens when performers and listeners are united in thinking about one subject--in this case the dampness and its power to stop the music-making at this event--the general atmosphere contributed to satisfying results. Not surprisingly, Larrocha’s pianistic sovereignty, the orchestra’s unfailing professionalism and Fischer’s exuberant conductorial approach--all responded to the crisis positively. The performances proved admirable.

Apparently unfazed by extramusical considerations, Larrocha brought to both Mozart’s genial C-major concerto and Manuel de Falla’s moody “Nights in the Gardens of Spain” all the appropriate colors and nuances. In laying out the intricacies of K. 467, she chose the handsome but restrained cadenzas by Paul Badura-Skoda; to hear the meshing of musical minds thus created became cherishable. Falla’s florid canvas emerged rich but unmurky, detailed but followable. Most important, it moved inexorably from statement to climax to conclusion.

Good sports always, the members of the Philharmonic adjusted to all contingencies on this occasion, whether contributing quirky solos to Rossini’s “L’Italiana in Algeri” Overture or mustering a mellow blast of sound at the high point of Ravel’s Second “Daphnis et Chloe” Suite. Fischer’s energetic leadership did not consistently achieve instrumental transparency or pinpoint facets of the composer’s orchestration, but it always moved ahead.