MUSIC REVIEW : Andre Previn Program Minus Previn

On paper, this week’s program of 20th-Century music by the Los Angeles Philharmonic bore the markings of an Andre Previn special.

The essentially conservative agenda opened with the first local performance of Steven Stucky’s “Angelus,” a snazzy super-fanfare commissioned by our orchestra in conjunction with Carnegie Hall to commemorate the centennial season of that august auditorium. Previn, who conducted the premiere in New York last month, had chosen Stucky as his composer-in-residence here in 1988.

The centerpiece took the form of William Schuman’s Third Symphony. Written in 1941, generally respected and generally neglected, it is a well-crafted example of neo-romantic Americana--a genre that Previn has long championed.

After intermission, Viktoria Mullova--who had originally elected Brahms--appeared as relatively unlikely soloist in the gushing Sibelius Violin Concerto. Previn has made an illustrious recording of this showpiece with Itzhak Perlman and the Pittsburgh Symphony.

The concert took place as scheduled Wednesday night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. But there was one hitch: Previn didn’t show up.

According to a Philharmonic spokesman, our former music director decided last summer that he would have more pressing business elsewhere at this time. The management blithely substituted David Alan Miller--the newly promoted associate conductor and official understudy--but did not deem it worthwhile to issue an official announcement of the change.

Miller may not command Previn’s box-office magnetism, or, for that practical matter, his salary. Luckily, the young man is a consummate professional. Calm and authoritative, he took charge as if he had devised this rather complex challenge for himself all along.

“Angelus,” a clever piece d’occasion , must have been intended to celebrate the once-glorious acoustics of Carnegie Hall. Essentially a study in timbral effect, textural permutation and dynamic extension, it uses all manner of bells, chimes, gongs and reasonable facsimiles thereof to bang out lusty clusters of noises for about 10 festive minutes.

Stucky’s own program note refers, rather optimistically, to “perfumed, enchanted night-music,” and “a mercurial scherzo.” These presumably melodic flights escaped at least one pair of ears. It took no special sophistication, however, to recognize the composer’s virtuosity in matters of pure sonic manipulation. This piece really rings.

Miller and the orchestra made it ring brightly. The non-capacity audience applauded politely, if with little enthusiasm.

The Schuman Third Symphony seems to vacillate between theatrical extroversion and academic formulism. Even it its least spontaneous moments, it is superbly orchestrated, and it shirks neither thematic responsibility nor structural logic.

One gratefully applauds Schuman’s technical skill, his concern for taut development and expressive civility. One needn’t waste much time lamenting the absence, here, of heroic adventure.

Miller conducted with propulsive verve that seldom obscured his respect for clarity of definition. The Philharmonic responded with fervor sporadically marred by imprecise execution.

The only serious miscalculation of the evening involved Mullova’s interpretation of the Sibelius Concerto. She played this flamboyant exercise as if it were delicate chamber music.

She wanted to sigh, not roar.

The approach would have made wonderful sense for Mozart. It seemed a bit perverse in Sibelius.

She evidently wanted to tone down the inherent rhetorical excess, to smooth away any traces of vulgarity. She wanted to make the most of silken tone, endless legato phrases and ultra-refined pianissimo nuances.

In the process, she certainly confirmed her command of her instrument, and, in this extrovert vehicle, too little passion may be preferable to too much. Still, Mullova made the unabashedly rhapsodic indulgences seem cool.

She also made Sibelius seem precious. That comes close to a contradiction in terms.

Miller followed his daring, unorthodox soloist conscientiously. Unfortunately, he could not always scale down the mighty orchestral apparatus to accommodate her gentle emotive scale.