MUSIC REVIEW : James Galway in Recital

Among musicians who ply the classical trade there are those who settle comfortably into a routine mold and those who fan the flames of inspiration. Occasionally, however, a James Galway comes along--as the celebrity flutist did Wednesday for a recital at Hollywood Bowl--to demonstrate yet a different modus operandi.

No doldrums for him. Nor any indifferent note-spinning. First and foremost, Galway is an entertainer. Pursuing his muse seems not to be his most compelling motivation. But the same infectious spirit that defines his virtuosity extends to his appreciation of an audience--an audience he wants to engage in more than musical ways.

True to form, this pixie of an Irishman, brogue and all, addressed his crowd of 9,884 with amusing, innocuous anecdotes as introductions to his numbers. Also typically, he requested no applause between movements: “Not because it breaks my concentration,” he assured his auditors, “but so you won’t have sore hands at the end.” No serious caveat here: The clappers clapped.

And when Galway heard distant applause from a single admirer, midway through Prokofiev’s Sonata, he jokingly egged him on. Interjecting the little aside seemed to make no dent in his masterful performance, however, as he clearly relished the idiomatic score. He met every challenge of the high-velocity runs and interval leaps, bringing timbral and expressive variety to the whole and luxuriating in long, languid lines.

By contrast, his rhythmic vigor and elan could not save Dvorak’s Sonatine in D from transcription blues. But in the French bon-bon department, Debussy, Chaminade, et al. came off well, while Galway, assisted by the powerfully expressive Phillip Moll at the piano, had his way with “Carmen” in Francois Borne’s fantasy on the beloved Bizet melodies from that opera.