Music Reviews : Dynamic Philharmonic Debut for Conductor Thielemann

New faces come and go at Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts. Only time, eventually, tells which of them will last.

As of Thursday night, when Christian Thielemann made his first Philharmonic appearance in a Beethoven/Schumann program at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, an educated guess would name the young German conductor an important contender for survival in this risky music business.

In recent seasons, Thielemann--who becomes general music director of Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1997-98--has climbed the podiums of major American orchestras, as well as our most prominent opera, the Metropolitan.

What he proved this week at the L.A. Philharmonic in a standard, ostensibly undemanding program, was that his considerable successes in those earlier debuts was no fluke. Thielemann, 36, is the real thing: a conductor of brilliance, insights and originality, a born leader who makes music happen.

In Beethoven’s “Coriolan” Overture and Sixth Symphony and the Piano Concerto by Robert Schumann, Thielemann did not cause great polish or smooth finishes in the actual orchestral playing; more often than not, our game instrumental band might have been wondering exactly where, temporally, the conductor’s virtually beatless gestures were.

He expresses his musical convictions and his sense of detailing and continuity sometimes through apparently frantic movements of the left hand, sometimes through poses of minimal gesturing. The orchestra receives, and responds. The Philharmonic’s playing was not always beauteous Thursday night, yet it delivered revelations.

Thielemann began the “Coriolan” Overture at the start of the evening as he ended the proceedings in the “Pastoral” Symphony: by stressing the play of light and dark, the deep contrasts between forte and piano, the sudden shifts of mood that spell out Beethoven’s style. These sharp edges sometimes become blurred in a world where performances of these works are commonplace.

That does not happen with this conductor. He creates a sense of urgency in every moment. Every pause seems to have meaning. He builds clear-cut dynamic layers and puts them on display.

Even on a metallic-sounding instrument, soloist Lars Vogt found the Romantic style and virtuosic demands of Schumann’s Piano Concerto personally congenial and projectedly stylish. In a taut collaboration, Thielemann lavished on the beloved piece the same emotional focus and interpretive energy he brought to the rest of the evening.

* L.A. Philharmonic, conducted by Christian Thielemann, and with pianist Lars Vogt, plays this same program at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center, tonight at 8 and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (213) 850-2000. Tickets: $6-$58.