MUSIC REVIEW : Prokofiev, ‘Nevsky’ on an Epic Scale at Bowl

Well, it worked. Against the odds, Hollywood Bowl became a movie palace Thursday evening.

The throng assembled under a large screen suspended from the Bowl shell--the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale and mezzo Christine Cairns, conducted by Yuri Temirkanov--reinforced the sense of epic formality in “Alexander Nevsky,” which tells the story of Nevsky’s 13th-Century victory over invading German knights with a Stalinist spin.

They also, of course, reinforced Prokofiev’s score, as adapted for such forces by William Brohn. Bold, blatant, pungent, sentimental, raucous and subtle--often all at the same time--the music earned a permanent repertory place as the dramatic cantata that Prokofiev later made from his 1938 film score.

Brohn based his adaptation on the cantata. Returned thus in more flamboyant guise to its original duty, Prokofiev’s score is incomparably vivid. The composer did not shrink from obvious dramatic cues, but his music has integrity and sophistication as well as evocative pictorial zeal.

Temirkanov, completing a two-week stint at the Bowl, has conducted this version of the score before for a performance with the film in Philadelphia. His musicians were also veterans of Prokofiev’s and director Sergei Eisenstein’s cinematic war. (This particular combination of technologically enhanced film and live score, a project of “Live from Lincoln Center” producer John Goberman, premiered at the Music Center in November, 1987.)

The results of all this experience were readily audible Thursday in a supercharged yet perfectly controlled performance. There were moments where the music did not yield gracefully to the dialogue, but at most points Temirkanov kept the score in tight support of the visual images.

Whether the Soviet conductor shares any ideological sympathy for this overt propaganda is probably a moot point, since his dramatic sympathy for Prokofiev’s music is so clear. He drew every possible coloristic variation from chorus and orchestra alike, with an emphasis on contrast and energy.

His musicians--and the severely challenged sound system--did not fail him. The orchestra played with expansive power, while maintaining balance and focus, and the chorus provided rich, fluent singing and seemed to grapple effectively with the Russian words.

Cairns has sung the lament of the Russian girl searching the battlefield for her lover in all the performances of this project, and before that recorded the part in the cantata with Andre Previn and the Philharmonic. The Scottish mezzo sings with affecting poignancy and resonant musical presence, finding the strength as well as the sorrow in her song.

The film’s now-classic images lost little outdoors, at least from the vantage point of the center boxes. The fusion of sight and sound is imposing by any standards, however corny much of the plot and dialogue may seem.

The sound tracks, dialogue and special effects have been given a technological boost but still sound tinny, especially as forced to scratchy, squeaky levels through the Bowl amplification. The sonic depth of the live music overwhelms the recorded sound, creating a glaring contrast that is the only weak point of the effort.

Surprisingly, “Nevsky” was not strong at the box office, drawing a crowd of 11,627--better than many midweek events at the Bowl, but still only about two-thirds of capacity. Now if only they could work fireworks into it somehow.