MUSIC REVIEWS : Youth, Experience Join at AYS Benefit

A couple of warhorses provided the program for the 28th Annual Gala Benefit Concert of the American Youth Symphony Sunday evening. No statistics were available on the number of times Andre Watts has performed Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, or Mehli Mehta Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, but one would guess that it’s a fairly hefty total.

On this occasion at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, it only meant wisdom and poise on the part of the interpreters, not boredom. And both 46-year-old pianist and 84-year-old conductor appeared to get quite a charge from the young musicians around them.

Watts’ account of the Rachmaninoff combined impetuosity with patience, urgency with deliberation. He knew where he was going, when to turn it on, when to wait. He made quick, crisp changes in tempo and dynamic, exhibiting both rhapsodic feeling and control. He accented aggressively.

Throughout the performance, he intently watched and listened to the orchestra, collaborating knowingly. Only the drab tone of the Yamaha grand disappointed in this purposeful reading.

Mehta and orchestra provided alert and lush accompaniment, with solid solo contributions. They had opened the concert with a sturdy run-through of Richard Strauss’ “Dance of the Seven Veils.”

Mehta’s interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth seems to have slowed over the years, to its benefit. This was an entirely unforced reading, steady, detailed, gathering momentum of its own accord. His orchestra responded with crispness, discipline--an occasional low-brass overenthusiasm notwithstanding--and energy. The horns and violins especially shone.

The orchestra even managed to surprise Mehta a little with its expertise. While wiping his brow during the pizzicato movement, he found that his young musicians did just fine with a smaller beat, so he stopped conducting altogether and they continued to play neatly on their own. The conductor’s pride was apparent, and deserved.