MUSIC REVIEW : Sarah Chang in Bowl Debut

In this era of the virtuoso du jour, you might think the constant injections of hype would somehow inoculate us against the impact of prodigies. But Tuesday there was 11-year-old Sarah Chang at Hollywood Bowl, leveling the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with a prowess and vision rare at any age, and in the process obscuring the would-be triumphant return of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The young fiddler from Philadelphia is already a seasoned pro, tapped by Zubin Mehta to play with the New York Philharmonic three years ago. She has since performed with most of the major American orchestras, and in Europe and Asia.

It showed. She brought a big, flexible sound, accurate fingers and an inexhaustible technique to the challenge. Her control of both the material and its projection was never in doubt.

Sure, it was largely a generic interpretation, built as much from imitation as imagination. But there are plenty of adults who play this piece more from practice than reflection, and Chang at least still seems in love with its tunefulness and sheer zest.

Only in a phrase-by-phrase account of the cadenza did her vision of its expansive wonders narrow. Elsewhere she proved refreshingly alive to the concerto’s sunniest possibilities, even in the Canzonetta sounding tenderly pensive rather than mournful.

Under Lawrence Foster’s alert and sympathetic guidance, the Philharmonic backed Chang with uncommon accompanimental flair. The orchestra provided propulsive sweep to the big moments, and its own solo voices complemented the violinist nicely.

Home from the festival wars in Salzburg, the Philharmonic lost little time reminding us of its glories. The first half of Foster’s piquant, exposing program listed Britten’s “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” and the Suite from Kodaly’s comic opera “Hary Janos.”

Not that the Britten was particularly tidy. Patchy ensemble was the rule, and Foster took a rather blunt approach to the piece. But the collective and sectional sound was bold and well-focused, with the most gleaming and pliant string work heard at the Bowl since July.

The “Hary Janos” pieces, in Foster’s lithe accounts, had all the sonic richness and color of the Britten and none of the unstable liabilities. Principal violist Evan Wilson headed the long list of accomplished and pertinent orchestral solos with his characterful plaint, and Kenneth Watson supplied jangly authenticity at the cimbalom, a Hungarian hammered dulcimer.

Attendance: 10,080.