WEEKEND REVIEWS : Music : Bowl Orchestra Opens Season

For the official opening of their fifth season Friday night, John Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra offered an attractive Rodgers and Hammerstein bill with fireworks, drawing an enthusiastic crowd of 17,960 (equaled on Saturday) to the Bowl.

The high point for many came with the appearance of singer John Raitt, the creator of Billy Bigelow in “Carousel” on Broadway 50 years ago. Though the 78-year-old singer’s voice sounds every bit its age, he put across his two numbers from “Carousel”--”If I Loved You” and “Soliloquy”--with great verve and deep feeling. He sounded like he was having, right then, the time of his life, and that translated into memorable music-making.

Mauceri’s warm regard for this music came through in numerous ways: his easy marshaling of factoid and anecdote in podium-side chats, his graceful and communicative way with the music (and thus the orchestra’s), his curiosity to explore the nether regions of the duo’s art. He unearthed the long-forgotten overture to “Pipe Dream” (from 1955) and the only slightly less obscure suite to “State Fair” (which got the fireworks treatment).

Singers Paige O’Hara, Richard White and Priscilla Baskerville all revealed uneven vocals and passing pitch troubles, but each made cases for their selections from “South Pacific” and “The Sound of Music.” Baskerville’s “Bali Ha’i” seemed especially sensitive, and O’Hara’s “Do-Re-Mi,” with the Mitch Hanlon Singers, proved remarkable for its energetic glee.

The amplification gave a brassy edge to the voices, and a low-level electronic hum milled about. The orchestral miking sounded relatively natural though, and the original Broadway and film orchestrations--most by the underappreciated Robert Russell Bennett--sparkled as a result.