Music Reviews : Rozhdestvensky Leads Rich Russian Works

It is hard to decide what made the most vivid impression Sunday afternoon at Ambassador Auditorium--the sonic glories of the State Symphonic Kapelle of Moscow, or the podium eccentricities of its leader, Gennady Rozhdestvensky.

However daunting the uncertainties of Muscovite life or wearying a long tour must be, this was no band of dispirited civil servants.

The orchestra lavished confident prodigies of powerful, graceful sound on Tchaikovsky’s Orchestral Suite No. 3, an utterly winning piece seldom heard here.

Ensemble work proved suave and cohesive, balanced in color and dynamics. The reed sections--typically the final refuge of the orchestral individualist these days--produced a remarkable variety of distinctive tone styles, but the solo efforts were capped by Aleksandr Shanin’s elegant and agile account of the mini-concerto that falls to the concertmaster.

Rozhdestvensky let his well-practiced group make music with little interference, frequently simply adding encouraging hand flourishes as he listened from the odd, battered wooden cage in which he was ensconced.

When he did take decisive action, it was often to insert deliberate hiccups into the proceedings.

These were most peculiar and unnecessary at the very end of pieces.

The orchestra introduced the final notes of the Tchaikovsky without him, then released the sound while he was still waving the baton above his head.

At the close of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Russian Easter Overture,” Rozhdestvensky jabbed the stick vigorously at his orchestra, which made not a sound. Then, as he began to shake the baton, his musicians made an insecure entrance and lingered after he was done. Who was following whom here?

However weirdly elicited, the results were splendid. When it seemed as though everything had been spent too early in the overture, the orchestra easily rose another dynamic level to thunderous brilliance, still superbly balanced and crystal clear in texture.

Rozhdestvensky is a champion of contemporary music, and his fascinating program had Schnittke’s deft, acidly affectionate Concerto Grosso No. 1 at its center.

Shanin and the conductor’s son Aleksandr Rozhdestvensky handled the neo-Baroque duo violin bravura with energetic point and technical aplomb, sensitively partnered by a chamber orchestra string contingent and the mock-continuo playing of P. N. Meschaninov, on a prepared piano and grossly amplified harpsichord.

In encore, Rozhdestvensky and Co. turned out a lithe and explosive Trepak from “The Nutcracker.”