MUSIC REVIEW : Lopez-Cobos, Harrell at Bowl

Spanish conductor Jesus Lopez-Cobos has said he feels more at home in Berlin than Madrid and more attuned to Wagner than Falla. Thursday evening though, he seemed quite at home at Hollywood Bowl, and did just fine by Falla, thank you.

Ironically, what Lopez-Cobos’ account of Falla’s “The Three-Cornered Hat” ballet music needed most was a degree of Wagnerian indulgence. There was a sense of restraint throughout that often undercut even the sterner expressive gestures.

The expansiveness with which Lopez-Cobos greeted the finale nearly compensated, particularly as it was well-prepared over the course of the complete score. His benign, almost laissez-faire guidance elicited a surprising crispness and clarity, but also brought an impression of caution to the proceedings.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic played with precision and sparkle for its guest. It produced the full range of colors necessary in this work, including a wonderfully gritty sound in the Miller’s farruca.

Mezzo Alice Baker sang the brief, proverbial warnings with a big sound and few understandable words, supported at the beginning by a squad of solemnly clapping men.

Cellist Lynn Harrell also offered an Iberian work, Casal’s setting of a Catalan carol, “The Song of the Birds.” Harrell laid it out with soft, eloquent simplicity, with tempos a touch on the lugubrious side.

His major effort, however, was “Schelomo,” the lush, extravagant Hebrew Rhapsody by Bloch. He made it endlessly expressive, endlessly fluent, and, ultimately, simply endless.

That, of course, was mostly the fault of the composer. Harrell’s noble, richly rhetorical playing and the brilliant accompaniment of Lopez-Cobos and the Philharmonic could have been more tautly focused, but then the piece could also have been half as long and said as much.

A blithe, lyrical reading of Ravel’s “Alborada del Gracioso,” distinguished by David Breidenthal’s smooth, sinuous bassoon solo, opened the concert.

Attendance: 8,706.