MUSIC REVIEWS : Philharmonic Program Pleasant, Uncompelling

For his first subscription-series engagement at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the young conductor from Mexico, Enrique Diemecke, selected a generous, hodge-podge program, then led it with panache. But he did not prove the compelling podium personality one might have hoped.

The 36-year-old, North American-trained conductor, on Wednesday leading the first of three consecutive Philharmonic performances in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center, brought an easy confidence to his program.

That agenda consisted of Revueltas’ Suite from the film “Redes” (1938), Ginastera’s “Variaciones Concertantes” and two works of Ravel, the Piano Concerto in G and the Suite No. 2 from “Daphnis et Chloe.”

All of this, as played solidly by our Philharmonic, turned out pleasant but bland. In the Revueltas piece, and despite a few violent gestures, sometimes during silences, Diemecke failed to make the pictorial elements appear important or even urgent. This suite seems to constitute a nice enough, 25-minute listening experience, yet not exactly one we would like to hear repeated.

The inspiration level of Ginastera’s attractive 1953 opus brought more energy into the Pavilion, especially since the medium-length piece offers at least 10 first-desk orchestral soloists opportunities for colorful display.

The Philharmonic principals--among others, cellist Ronald Leonard, flutist Janet Ferguson, clarinetist Lorin Levee, violist Evan Wilson, oboist Barbara Winters, bassoonist David Breidenthal, trumpeter Donald Green, trombonist Byron Peebles, hornist Jerry Folsom and concertmaster Sidney Weiss--utilized the composer’s grateful solo-writing without staunching the musical flow.

Conductor Diemecke, on the other hand, did not shape the piece into coherence, but merely led it.

In the “Daphnis” excerpts, the conductor’s blunt approach left the players to do well what they have done many times before. Consequently, this performance moved right along, more or less unimpeded.

Artur Pizarro, the young, prize-winning Portuguese pianist, was the not-always-characterful-or-audible protagonist in Ravel’s beloved piano concerto, giving what appeared to be an honest, note-accurate account of its solo part.

At the same time, odd and unexpected things--inconsistent balances, strange aural relationships between instrumental choirs, a genuine lack of orchestral clarity--were happening in the accompaniment.

Since this ensemble plays this work at least once a year, usually producing a recognizable performance of it, the credit or blame for this particular Wednesday night version can be attributed to only one source: the guest on the podium.