RACCOONS JOIN INSTITUTE ORCHESTRA AT BOWL

One lesson that the young musicians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute Orchestra are learning well this summer is that anything goes at Hollywood Bowl. Their efforts on behalf of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on Sunday evening were decorated with all the tragicomic touches of a National Lampoon movie.

Starring in the production was a clan of very vocal raccoons. For the first three movements, they contented themselves with heckling from the wings, in loud, curiously warbling voices. The “Ode to Joy,” however, brought them racing on stage for a game of high-speed tag around and amid the bass section.

The raccoons’ rush was perfectly timed to leave a large portion of the audience chuckling in the sudden stillness of a dramatic pause. This seemed to unnerve conductor Lukas Foss, who shortly thereafter misjudged one of his little jumps and lurched off the podium, recovering his balance among the first-desk violists.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on why one goes to the Bowl, the raccoon madness disrupted a particularly unpersuasive performance. From the opening bars, there were persistent disagreements over tempo, rhythm and articulation, let alone intonation and balance.

Many of the same problems beset the hearty contributions of the Pacific Chorale, as well as the solo quartet, led with growly fervor by baritone Michael Devlin. Tenor Timothy Jenkins, mezzo Jacalyn Bower and soprano Deborah Voigt--replacing on short notice Kaaren Erickson, who reportedly withdrew on physician’s orders--completed the group.

And all this was only the second half. Inevitably, perhaps, the program began late, due to traffic delays, according to the public announcement, with unlisted additions.

Institute fellow Peter Rubardt led a glum, toothless account of “A Survivor From Warsaw,” by Schoenberg. Cantor William Sharlin reduced the narration to cliched melodrama, and the men of the Pacific Chorale rendered the concluding “Sh’ma Yisroel” as a lusty shout.

Peter Ioannou directed a brooding, gray account of the “Representation of Chaos” from Haydn’s “Creation” with the full ensemble, and Clyde Mitchell had charge of the brass sections for two solemn Renaissance works. Mitchell’s spatial dispersal of his forces was a purely visual effect, beyond the first few boxes at least.

Attendance: 15,071--not counting raccoons.