Music And Dance Reviews : Wigglesworth, Philharmonic Offer Shostakovich Work

It was kids’ night at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Thursday.

Manning the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion podium, in his Philharmonic debut, was British conductor Mark Wigglesworth, a boyish 30. The soloist, a veteran of appearances here in 1991 and 1993, was German pianist Lars Vogt, an even more boyish 24. Vogt’s vehicle, a product of Beethoven’s mid-20s and written for his own virtuoso purposes, was the Piano Concerto Numbered 2 (although the composer’s first). And, for his first at bat, Wigglesworth went for a towering home run with the Grand Statement of Shostakovich’s mid-30s, the massive, wartime Symphony No. 7, “Leningrad.”

You may remember the “Leningrad.” Written in 1941, in part while the composer himself lay under the Nazi siege of that city, the Symphony was a conscious attempt to capture the images of war, to depict the strengths of the Soviet people and to predict their eventual victory. As such, it became a great tool of propaganda, especially in the West. The microfilmed score was hastened to the United States, Toscanini led a ballyhooed radio broadcast premiere, and then seemingly every orchestra in the land took it up.

It thus got a reputation as something of a potboiler. Its most remarkable feature (among many) is a 15-minute, repetitive crescendo (a la “Bolero,” but with advancing armies connotations) in the center of the first movement, later satirized by Bartok in the Concerto for Orchestra.

Wigglesworth, leading an hour and 18-minute performance from memory, climbed its peaks with confidence and control, but didn’t quite make up for its weaknesses. This rare live performance of the score made its sprawl--and consequent sagging of tension--all too glaring. In particular, Shostakovich overdoes the long and lonely woodwind solo meandering in a still and bleak instrumental landscape.

Nevertheless, the regular grandiose thrills proved thrilling and compelling, and Wigglesworth made the most of them, with care and discipline rather than impetuous abandon. He also showed an impressive ability to coax a true pianissimo from the orchestra, using it, for instance, to telling effect in starting the massive crescendo almost inaudibly. The Philharmonic played alertly, neatly and formidably. The standing ovation seemed deserved.

Earlier, Vogt gave Beethoven’s Concerto a perky, propulsive and elegant reading. He made his points by pulling inward rather than intensifying. By backing off the brio , he flirted with preciousness, but achieved a Mozartean verve and grace. Wigglesworth supported handily and somewhat politely.

* Mark Wigglesworth conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with pianist Lars Vogt, in the same program tonight at 8 and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 850-2000.