MUSIC REVIEW : Zinman Conducts Mozart, Barber

Never overestimate the sophistication or curiosity--of Los Angeles Philharmonic audiences.

Thursday night, David Zinman of the Baltimore Symphony conducted the orchestra in music of Samuel Barber (1910-1981) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). The soloist was Dawn Upshaw, a rapidly rising soprano much celebrated at the Metropolitan Opera and the Salzburg Festival.

Those who attended the concert seemed to love it. But not very many attended. The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion yawned with empty seats.

Obviously, the event didn’t generate sufficient star power. The name on the program with the greatest drawing potential probably belonged to Mozart--and, after last year’s commemorative orgies, the public may have been Mozarted to the point of disinterest.

Be that as it may, the absentees missed an evening of refined, intimate performances in interesting juxtapositions. Their loss.

The concert began sweetly with Mozart’s Symphony No. 29, K. 201, written when the Wunderkind was a mature 18. In a laudable quest for authenticity, Zinman reduced the orchestra drastically. Concentrating on subtle nuances within a narrow dynamic range, he inadvertently exposed some ensemble weaknesses. The intonation was sometimes dubious, and the phrasing occasionally irregular. Still, the affectionate spirit compensated for any lapses of polish.

Upshaw dominated the center of the program, her tone silvery, her manner refreshingly unmannered. She brought clarity against the verbal odds and nostalgia minus cloying sentiment to the homespun rhetoric of Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,” an unjustly neglected classic created in 1947 for Eleanor Steber.

Then the young American soprano sang two concert arias of Mozart--”Basta vincesti,” K. 486a, and “Bella mia fiamma,” K. 528--with arching bravura and easy radiance. Her voice seems to gain body and strength each season, with no losses in flexibility or purity.

Zinman, who provided unfailingly thoughtful accompaniment for his soloist, closed the refreshingly brief program with a poignant performance of Barber’s Symphony No. 1, completed when the composer was 25. From this vantage point, the formal development may seem a bit academic and the dramatic outbursts a bit bombastic. The inherent melodic appeal remains compelling, however, and the lyrical flights exert special pathos because of the composer’s expressive restraint.

Perhaps Barber’s time has come. Again.