MUSIC REVIEWS : Bowl Orchestra Gets a Jump on the Fourth

Hollywood Bowl started ringing in the Fourth of July celebration a few days early with “America the Beautiful” and fireworks on Saturday. The concert held a capacity audience of 17,979, and the repeat programs, scheduled for Sunday and today, also were reportedly sold out.

The emphasis was on music by Richard Rodgers and Irving Berlin, as John Mauceri led the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in music that Rodgers wrote for television and Broadway and Berlin wrote for Broadway and Hollywood.

Although Mauceri tended to be a bit over-animated on the podium, he reached a welcome middle ground of letting the music emerge without hype or exaggeration, particularly in the selections from Rodgers’ music for the television program “Victory at Sea” and his Broadway show “Carousel.”

As an accompanist to singer Patti LuPone, Mauceri was attentive, prone to quick tempos but apparently unfazed and helpful when LuPone seemed to drop a line or get out of sync momentarily in Berlin’s “Hostess With the Mostes’ on the Ball.”

LuPone provided star power. She sang more than half a dozen songs by Berlin, not all of which suited her throaty, expressive, highly articulated vocalism well. She was best in ballad-type songs such as “I Got Lost in His Arms,” and less impressive in upbeat tempo songs, at times almost throwing away the lyrics.

The Bowl amplification worked well, revealing an even, full and rich middle sound in the orchestra, as well as at the extremes, and allowing delicate details of orchestration to be heard clearly.

The program ended with an impressive fireworks display by Pryo-Spectaculars, which was coordinated with uncanny precision to the beats and phrases of three marches by John Philip Sousa.