MUSIC REVIEWS : Ohyama Leads Japan America Symphony

You could feel a wave of affection sweep from the audience and members of the Japan America Symphony of Los Angeles to conductor Heiichiro Ohyama on Saturday at the Japan America Theatre.

The cause was not just the full-throated sentimentality of the Korean folk song, “Arirang,” offered as an encore to close the program of works by Ravel, Mozart and Shoko Natsuda--although that didn’t hurt.

Before that, Ohyama had led a magical conclusion to Ravel’s “Ma Mere l’Oye” (the five-movement 1911 version) and a sometimes tragedy-tinged “Le Tombeau de Couperin” by the same composer.

In these and other works, Ohyama revealed a firm grasp of style and his own ideas about the music. He also capitalized upon a sense of intimacy and delicacy from the 47 players, enforced perhaps by the size of the 841-seat theater. Maybe it was a virtue of necessity.

Make no mistake. The youthful Japan America is not yet a great orchestra. It could not muster sufficient Gallic suavity and finesse for the music of Ravel. It could not play with all the bright precision needed for the music of Mozart. It tended toward glassy edginess in full-voiced passages and roughness at other dynamic levels whenever the brass made a contribution.

Even so, these musicians played with welcome commitment and affection. Concertmistress Sheryl Staples and oboist Leslie Reed offered warm, ingratiating solos.

Tong-Il Han was the fluent soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17. He ventured no special ideas in the first movement, but deepened his projection of light and shade in the poignant second.

The program opened with Natsuda’s “Tomoe” (Spiral), a moody, neo-Romantic work in three parts, characterized by layered orchestral textures and rushes to large climaxes. Although the performance of the piece was not a U.S. premiere, Natsuda was in the audience and took a bow onstage.