MUSIC REVIEW : Minnesotans Play Segerstrom Hall

Many things have changed in the 14 years since the Minnesota Orchestra last visited Southern California, in the spring of 1978.

At that time the ensemble from Minneapolis was led by Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, its sixth music director (in an illustrious history going back to 1903); of its performance at El Camino College, Albert Goldberg of The Times called the orchestra “a willing and tolerably well disciplined group” but one without a “distinctive character.”

The youngish symphonic body which turned up Wednesday night in Segerstrom Hall, under auspices of the Orange County Philharmonic Society, showed considerable character--instrumental brilliance, genuine finesse and measurable ensemble achievement--among its virtues.

Under Edo de Waart--who took over from Neville Marriner as music director six years ago--the orchestra gave, in its program of Weber’s “Oberon” Overture, the Violin Concerto by Alban Berg and Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, bright, energetic and thoughtful performances.

At 50, De Waart seems to be entering his prime. The former oboist presided over confident and well-paced readings of Weber’s operatic excerpt and of Beethoven’s “Pastorale” which touched all dynamic and stylistic bases but moved without impediments or detail-overloading.

At mid-program, conductor and orchestra proved sensitive collaborators with young Nigel Kennedy, the 36-year-old, much-publicized British violinist, in the Berg Concerto.

The punk-dressing Kennedy--one classical music magazine calls him “The Nige”--may be sometimes outrageous in his clothes.

This time around he stuck to basic black, with the addition of a multicolored, Pavarotti-size scarf hanging down between violin and player. And some may not admire his talking informally to the audience after playing--though the Segerstrom audience on Wednesday seemed to like his relaxed talking.

But no one can deny Kennedy’s remarkable instrumental accomplishment, musical intensity and identification with this work.

His was a virtuoso reading without theatrics, if with some extramusical foot-shuffling that may have distracted some observers, a performance that outlined the superstructure of the work while coloring in numerous touching details.

It was achieved without self-glorification and it meshed perfectly with De Waart’s probing and the orchestra’s well-modulated assistance.

After that, Kennedy satisfied the audience’s desire for more with the opening movement from Bach’s E-major Partita fo solo violin.

And after the Beethoven symphony, the orchestra added Glinka’s “Russlan and Ludmilla” Overture.

After a scheduled concert in Palm Desert, Thursday, the Minnesota Orchestra will perform in Bridges Auditorium in Claremont, tonight at 8, in Santa Barbara Saturday night, again at 8, and Sunday night at 8:30 in Louise M. Davies Hall in San Francisco, thus completing its California tour.