Philharmonic, Josefowicz: Sharp Outing at the Bowl

An over-familiar symphonic masterwork and a practically forgotten violin concerto dominated the bill on the Thursday night program at the Hollywood Bowl. What they shared was brilliant playing by the resident Los Angeles Philharmonic, led for the second time this week by guest conductor Libor Pesek.

Dvorak’s ubiquitous “New World” Symphony closed the evening brightly, in as immaculate a reading as one could remember. And at the center of the event was the return of 18-year-old Leila Josefowicz, the Canadian-born recent graduate of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, who played Glazunov’s Violin Concerto in a blaze of virtuosity.

Pesek waited until the beloved second movement of the Dvorak piece before actually taking the reins--until then, he seemed to be plowing a mindless rhythmic rut--but when he did, that famous Largo and the subsequent final movements moved directly toward their cathartic conclusion.

Josefowicz, who last played at the Bowl when she made her debut there, at the age of 12, again produced a compelling, technically astute performance, the same kind of grown-up performance we noted when she played the Tchaikovsky Concerto with Neville Marriner at the Cerritos Center two years ago.

The surprise is not the violinist’s ease, imperturbability or gorgeous spectrum of tone--though those are certainly to be admired--but that she makes resounding music out of every note emanating from her violin.

The evening began nervously, with Benjamin Britten’s wondrous “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra,” which Pesek treated like a series of hurdles for himself and the ensemble and which consequently seemed longer than it is.