MUSIC REVIEWS : Temirkanov, Philharmonic in Top Form

Call him what you will--a showoff, an original, a narcissist, a consummate artist--but don’t call him boring.

Thursday night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Yuri Temirkanov was in top form, his top form, which meant several things. It meant that the Los Angeles Philharmonic played brilliantly; it meant that there was plenty of Temirkanov on display, even when plain old Wagner, Schumann or Dvorak would have done nicely; it also meant fascinating, brash and voluptuous music making.

Temirkanov had chosen a program that played right to his strengths.

It began with Wagner’s Preludes to Acts I and III of “Lohengrin.” The ethereal amorphousness and shimmering bloom of the first Prelude is prime territory for this conductor, and he shaped a steady, controlled, intense curve, wonderfully fluid in its instrumental detail. He punctuated it with a forthright Act III Prelude.

After intermission the Russian conductor turned to the lyrical rusticities of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8. In Temirkanov’s hands it had that, and more.

He emphasized contrasts in tempo, dynamic and mood, bringing movements to big, heated Tchaikovskian climaxes. He let the brass soar and timpani thunder. He shaped the quiet moments assiduously, with always telling coloristic shadings, almost always telling tempo fluctuations--Temirkanov is nothing if not willful--and an eminently expressive use of dynamics. The lyrical flights were muted swoons.

The Philharmonic responded to the conductor’s attentiveness impressively, with tightly knit ensemble, ready expressiveness and spirit.

In between, Russian pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja served Schumann’s A-minor Concerto well as soloist. She, appropriately, was not after brilliant display, and collaborated, chamber-music style, with the orchestral soloists, accompanying and echoing effectively. She projected small details in touch, brought a welcome clarity of texture to the task, and never overplayed a phrase. It was all quite satisfying in its muted way, though one might have welcomed a bigger payoff at the end.

Temirkanov and orchestra accompanied sensitively, and maybe got the best of it in the jaunty tunes of the outer movements.