MUSIC REVIEW : Tchaikovsky Spectacular Bursts on Bowl

The fireworks again filled the sky. Smoke, as from real-life battles taking place behind the acoustical shell, rose threateningly into the air. And a musical description of this scene of war, the familiar, concluding hymn in the “Solemn Overture: The Year 1812,” became the grim background.

For the 21st summer, a Tchaikovsky Spectacular filled Hollywood Bowl to the rafters twice over the weekend. And unlike 1988, when one of those two performances did not include the fireworks display--the Fire Marshall canceled them due to untoward climatic conditions--the visual show again competed successfully with the music on both nights.

The tradition goes on. For the fourth consecutive year, the Los Angeles Philharmonic had the weekend off, and a visiting orchestra played the Polonaise from “Eugene Onegin,” the First Piano Concerto, “Francesca da Rimini” and the “1812” Overture. No matter--that orchestra being the Montreal Symphony, no complaints need be filed.

Well, maybe small complaints. Charles Dutoit and his excellent Montreal musicians actually showed smaller expertise in this repertory than it did earlier in the week in works by Ravel, Debussy, Falla and Mozart. Its lean, Gallic sound may not be appropriately Tchaikovskyan (i.e., hefty) enough for some. And its collective temperament may lean more to the introspective than to the heroic.

Still, its playing meets a genuine international standard, one in which versatility is a component. There was nothing inadequate in these performances, though they emerged less often polished than what we heard at the week’s beginning.

Strongest was Dutoit’s rousing account of “Francesca da Rimini,” a work of bombast and bravado, but one in which the Swiss conductor did not seem entirely comfortable. It should, to make its full effect, one supposes, always be conducted by a charlatan--its best performances often seem to occur when such a one is on the podium. Dutoit made a brave effort, but did not always convince.

In any case, he and his Canadian colleagues produced a certain panache, and admirable transparency, in the “Onegin” Polonaise and the “1812.”

Andrea Lucchesini was the solid, musicianly protagonist in the B-flat-minor Concerto, if one without the personality to make it seem a life-and-death affair. Some bobbles aside, the young Italian pianist--he turned 24 last month--met all challenges to virtuosity and produced a linear and clean performance. It just didn’t make the heart race, as this piece can.

The multifarious fireworks show, however--with its many visual and explosive events--looked awesome, and should have caused fear and trembling in many of the 17,966 observers present on Saturday. (On Friday, attendance was 17,997.)