MUSIC REVIEW : Tchaikovsky Concert Is Part Spectacular

As these things go, it was an exceptional evening.

Or rather, part of it was. Alasdair Neale--an assistant conductor with the San Francisco Symphony, whose previous experience consists mostly of conducting student orchestras--turned out to be a formidable musician in his first appearance with the Pacific Symphony, in the fifth annual “Tchaikovsky Spectacular” at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.

As for the other part--well, that was more typical: a wham-bam traversal of the First Piano Concerto. Pianist Dickran Atamian, winner of the Naumburg Competition back in 1975, served as soloist, reportedly in his first public performance of the work.

He played loudly, quickly and percussively. He made the most of every opportunity to do so, which in this piece is often, and in so doing offered a reading of virtually nothing but muscle-flexing. This wasn’t a piano concerto, this was guerrilla warfare. His poetry proved perfunctory.

To his credit, Atamian didn’t let the energy level sag--if his reading didn’t especially go anywhere, at least it didn’t go downhill. Although his was a far from note-perfect performance, he dealt out mostly a clean barrage of sound. Neale and orchestra accompanied neatly, kept up with the pianist most of the time, and, thanks to some over-amplification, managed to overpower him on occasion.

After intermission, the British-born Neale led impressive performances of “Capriccio Italien,” the Waltz from “Sleeping Beauty” and the “1812” Overture.

The Capriccio received a truly accomplished reading, with ensemble blend and execution of superior polish. The strings offered nicely controlled lyricism. Neale enforced introspection where possible and the whole blossomed of its own accord.

He directed an up-tempo waltz, suavely shaping its violin melody. He elicited crisp articulation and gracious balances in the “1812” Overture, emphasized clarity of rhythm over bombast, and refused to dawdle needlessly over its many transitions. The de rigueur fireworks and cannon were not perfectly timed, but it didn’t matter much. The Huntington Beach Concert Band added to the din at the end.

To open the concert Neale led a poised account of the Polonaise from “Eugene Onegin.”

The Saturday night program of potboilers brought the orchestra’s summer season to a close before 11,014 attendees, down from last year’s Pacific Symphony record of over 12,000.