MUSIC REVIEW : Flor Conducts Orchestra From East Berlin at Chandler Pavilion

Perfectly respectable and utterly undistinguished, the Berlin Symphony of the German Democratic Republic--in other words, the East Berlin Symphony--arrived at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Wednesday night to complete the West Coast leg of its first U.S. tour.

Led by its music director for the last four years, Claus Peter Flor, the East German ensemble brought an unimaginative program, then proceeded to play it carefully.

In the process, the orchestra proved that its achievement, in a history going back merely 36 years, places it several artistic notches above, say, a comparable symphonic ensemble like the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig (heard here just 18 months ago). But at least several levels below the international standard of so-called second-rank orchestras, like the one from Rotterdam, which visited Orange County a year ago.

Under Flor’s competent leadership, however, the performances of Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony, Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto, and the Fifth Symphony of Tchaikovsky on this occasion became easy to take. And, on their own terms, interesting.

For instance: None of the longueurs often thought built-into Tchaikovsky’s Fifth materialized in this generally polished, if in moments scrappy, reading, which closed the generous program. Earlier, Flor, who has conducted our Los Angeles Philharmonic on two previous visits (in 1985 and 1987), gave little evidence of notable originality or individuality; here, he began to assert himself, convincingly.

This may not have been the most suave or forceful of performances--this orchestra’s strings make a thin, unlush sound, and its woodwind soloists meet only a provincial standard--but it had its moments: in some heart-tugging rubato applied to the lyrical expansions of the opening movement; in the strong emotional peaks of the familiar Andante cantabile; in some admirable lightness, discovered in the Waltz, and in the fulfilling climaxes of the finale.

In the long first half, there was less cause for rejoicing, though a large and well-behaved (i.e., attentive and non-clapping between movements) audience seemed to approve.

Prokofiev’s mercilessly exposing “Classical” Symphony showed the East Berliners less accomplished than ideal, given the work’s requisite transparency and virtuosity. The ensemble’s core of orchestral sound seems to lose all focus below the mezzo-forte level; tones that should be exquisite become merely slender.

Michael Erxleben--born in 1960, which makes him even younger than the 34-year-old Flor--was the brave, diligent and efficient violin soloist in Shostakovich’s extended First Concerto. But he did not make this knotty, grim and philosophical work his own. He got through it admirably, displaying stamina, solid, imperturbable technique and a modicum of emotional contrasts. Yet he failed to convince, and conviction is indispensable here.