SYMPHONY REVIEW : Talmi Adds a Splendid Performance to His Resume

Over the past two seasons, Israeli conductor Yoav Talmi has visited the San Diego Symphony as guest conductor on several occasions, leaving mixed impressions and stirring some speculation that he might be a candidate for the orchestra’s vacant music director position.

Thursday night, he made his best case to date.

Rarely has the symphony played as splendidly as it did in the two suites from Ravel’s ballet “Daphnis et Chloe.” Talmi elicited a delicious shimmer from the orchestra, skillfully coaxing glorious climaxes no less elegant than the pliant, sensuous solos executed by principal flutist Damian Bursill-Hall. Working without a score, Talmi savored Ravel’s subtlest details without losing focus, keeping a steady hand that revealed the work’s inexorable logic. The results were as impeccable as the composer’s legendary sartorial taste.

For this visit, Talmi chose an all-orchestral program. With no celebrity soloist to lean on or work around, his keen programming sensibilities came to the fore. Although the opening Rossini Overture to “L’Italiana in Algeri” and Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony were unremarkable choices, the Orchestra Suite from Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera “Dardanus” provided an ideal Gallic complement to the Ravel.

Rameau’s bit of Baroque diversion, appropriately performed with chamber-size ensemble clustered around the harpsichord, proved as refreshing as sherbet between meal courses. This suite of rarely heard fanciful dances and periwigged processionals may not have the grandeur of, say, Bach’s orchestral suites, but it exuded a naive charm and lively metrical pulse. Talmi displayed a fine ear for clear textures and a just balance between the strings and winds. He might well have asked for some stylish, inventive ornamentation from the players, however. For music redolent of Versailles, these melodic lines were as unadorned as a Bauhaus arch.

If Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony (“Italian”) is a bit of a crowd pleaser, Talmi and the symphony did not take the piece for granted. From the opening allegro, the mood was vibrant, and the orchestra’s ensemble was unusually cohesive. The woodwinds sailed through their reiterated leitmotifs with abandon, and the violins approached an uncharacteristically sleek timbre. The opening Rossini overture proved equally deft and ingratiating.

Concertmaster Igor Gruppman was indisposed Thursday, and in his place assistant concertmaster Nick Grant served with assurance. This program will be played again tonight at 8 p.m. in Symphony Hall.