MUSIC REVIEW : Jarvi Conducts Beethoven, Brahms

Two flags stood on stage at Hollywood Bowl on Thursday evening: the usual Stars and Stripes and the blue-black-and-white historic flag of Estonia, birthplace of conductor Neeme Jarvi, who led the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the second of two concerts this week.

Flags aside, the program was solidly German--a Brahms-and-Beethoven agenda that stood, like Tuesday’s program, in marked contrast with the unusual repertory that peppers Jarvi’s extensive discography.

The Brahms on this occasion was the First Symphony, and in Jarvi’s hands the work became a sweeping essay, more visceral than intellectual, unyielding in its momentum. That momentum became nearly hair-raising during the Finale’s main theme, where Jarvi appeared to be trying to finish in time to catch the 11 o’clock news.

Elsewhere, however, this reading proved unhurried, well-proportioned and technically accurate. One heard some radiant string playing and several exquisite wind solos, though the horns did on occasion assert too much.

Before intermission, Sidney Weiss offered a respectable but largely earthbound account of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Though he brought fine lyricism to the Larghetto, Weiss seemed to play the opening Allegro without real commitment: the notes just followed one after another. And though the Philharmonic’s concertmaster brought clarity and crispness to the score--particularly in the Rondo--minor intonation problems sullied his playing.

There was no overture, just Jarvi leading the 9,491 listeners in a slow, almost solemn reading of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”