MUSIC REVIEW : Previn Leads a Poignant Mahler Fourth

Regardless of what you may have read in these pages, don’t underestimate Andre Previn. Not yet.

Conventional wisdom--the noun, admittedly, is dubious--has long insisted that he can’t do much with the traditional Germanic repertory. He is too objective.

Let him conduct Elgar or Ravel, and he shines. Give him Beethoven or Brahms, and he gets perfunctory.

This, we thought, was a simple matter of proclivity and priority. Call it type-casting. Since Previn happens to be music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, it also was a cause for ongoing concern.

The first half of the concert Friday night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion confirmed negative expectations. In Richard Strauss’ “Don Juan,” Previn seemed embarrassed by the heroic Romantic rhetoric. Interpretatively uptight, or possibly just plain bored, he concentrated on speed and clarity. He also allowed the orchestra to play sloppily.

This boded bad for the second half of the program, which was devoted to the Mahler Fourth Symphony. But--happy surprise--the sprawling, expansive, sentimental, sometimes charming, sometimes grotesque, sometimes ethereal, often grandiose challenge brought out the best in him. In turn, it brought out the best in his players.

Previn obviously had given Mahler a lot of thought. He took chances on exceptionally slow tempos. He searched for illuminating details--insistent inner voices, subtle tempo shifts, unpredictable stresses.

For all its flexibility, the performance sometimes came close to being ponderous. It seldom came too close.

Previn respected the redeeming values of expressive tension and dynamic intimacy. He dared offer an original reading. It was lovely, indulgent and ultimately poignant.

The soprano for the innocent bucolic verses of the last movement turned out to be a luxurious choice: Kathleen Battle. When audible--a prospect that became increasingly dubious as the vocal line descended--her soprano sounded characteristically sweet and pure.

She had not been as persuasive earlier in the program, however, in four popular Lieder of Richard Strauss. Three of the languid selections, not incidentally, were holdovers from the recital she gave at UCLA only last month.

One applauded her taste and refinement, as always. One admired her poise and her precious array of silver-bell tones. Still, an ingrate--this ingrate--wished she would do a little more singing, a little less sighing and whispering.