MUSIC REVIEW : Ashkenazy, Berlin Radio in Bowl Debuts

Beginning a small parade of visiting symphonic ensembles based south of the border (Mexico City Philharmonic), north of the border (Oregon Symphony) and in Pasadena (the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra), the Berlin Radio Symphony made its local outdoor debut Tuesday night at Hollywood Bowl.

And whether by design or accident, the German orchestra, which officially calls itself Radio Symphony Berlin, did not challenge the Bowl standard set by the Los Angeles Philharmonic--which this month has a multifaceted engagement at the Salzburg Festival in Austria.

As it did in previous visits here, Radio Symphony Berlin performed competently. Sometimes more than that, as in its thoroughly committed, well-gauged playing of Richard Strauss’ “Also sprach Zarathustra” at the end of a short, three-work evening.

The Berliners, whose total sound tends to the turgid and dense, make up an accomplished instrumental band; its strings play with reasonable unanimity, its woodwinds and brass with admirable mellowness.

It does not seem to be at this time a symphonic body with strong soloists in key positions, though those first-desk players certainly meet an acceptable international standard. And the thickness of the ensemble’s sound may mask, or may actually result from, inconsistencies in the players’ reliability as regards intonation and ensemble. Consequently, the full-size orchestra often looks larger than it sounds.

The Tuesday performance, led by the group’s chief conductor since 1989, Vladimir Ashkenazy, emerged respectable, even in moments commanding. The occasional raucousness and lack of dynamic modulation one remembered from previous visits by the orchestra--indoors at Ambassador Auditorium--seemed under control, too.

Ashkenazy led a well-paced, nicely detailed “Also spach Zarathustra,” which minimized the work’s longueurs and stressed its mood-contrasts. Not that the Berliners’ softs and louds ever quite stretched out to their possibilities; this was, dynamically, a short-range reading. But it held interest.

So did the 55-year-old, Russian-born conductor’s careful unraveling of Weber’s “Euryanthe” Overture, which afforded the orchestra an opportunity to warm up in an unfamiliar performing venue.

The conductor’s son, clarinetist Dimitri Ashkenazy, was the technically solid, musically probing soloist at mid-concert.

The 23-year-old played Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with affectionate, elegant phrasing, utter control of tone and dynamics and a wondrous sense of continuity. He was assisted effortlessly, and handsomely, by conductor and orchestra.

Attendance: 8,797.