MUSIC & DANCE REVIEWS : Mehli Mehta, Youth Symphony Soar in Tchaikovsky Program

They may not have been subtle pleasures, but pleasures they were nonetheless.

That peculiar blend of seasoned and youthful enthusiasms--of Mehli Mehta, now 84, conducting the American Youth Symphony, now in its 28th season--worked in its customary winning way, Sunday night at Royce Hall, in a program devoted entirely to Tchaikovsky. Or maybe that should be, Tchaikovsky!

For, make no mistake, this was Tchaikovsky played by believers, big, full-throated, over-the-top, now-let’s-really-give-it-to-’em, Tchaikovsky.

Which isn’t to say that it was out of control. To the contrary, Mehta led carefully planned and executed readings of “Romeo and Juliet” and “Francesca da Rimini” to frame the concert: detailed, well paced, rhythmically focused and, some occasional miscues notwithstanding, generally tidy. Cool means to heated ends.

The strings especially impressed, producing a well defined, large body of sound, soaring in the love themes of both works and responsive throughout. The brass, of course, had something of a field day, but they stayed crisply in time and balanced with the strings.

In between, Endre Balogh offered a clean, controlled and fluid account of the Violin Concerto, a pure-toned, quietly concentrated effort that avoided unnecessary display.

After intermission, the young cellist Jiri Barta gave a fervent and rhythmically forceful reading of the “Rococo” Variations, dramatically poetic and athletic, by turns.

Mehta and orchestra provided dynamically sensitive and energetic accompaniments to both, though occasionally falling a hair’s breadth behind in their support.