Tate Conducts Lesson in Philharmonic’s Versatility

Chameleon-like, the Los Angeles Philharmonic changes its styles according to present needs.

A week ago, it was a German orchestra, playing Wagner and Richard Strauss under an expert in that repertory.

Friday night and over the weekend in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, our symphonic ensemble played Britten, Dvorak and Elgar in a contrasting manner, as idiomatically as one might wish.

Jeffrey Tate, the British guest conductor passing through for only one week, led five excerpts from Britten’s opera “Peter Grimes,” Elgar’s beloved “Enigma” Variations and, with American violinist Pamela Frank as soloist, Dvorak’s once-ubiquitous Violin Concerto. Throughout, Tate seemed to demand high standards from the Philharmonic, which he received without strain.

The grim realities of death and destiny in Britten’s most sea-oriented opera cannot spoil the beauties of its four Interludes and Passacaglia, which the Philharmonic etched in clear and affecting musical terms, outlined unerringly by Tate to open the program.

He did the same at the end of the evening with an even more subtle and cherishable score, the tight-knit, ever-flowing “Enigma” set.

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Dramatic pacing can either create or subvert the qualities one has come to consider inevitable in these variations. Too much detailing can impede the musical movement in the work.

Tate coaxed beauteous solo playing from individuals in the orchestra while maintaining the emotional character of the instrumental sound-narrative provided by the composer. The result was not only handsome but convincing and seemed at once both expansive and breathless.

Frank’s mellow but showy and technically unfazed mastery of the solo part of the Dvorak Concerto made the old-fashioned piece seem newly discovered and relevant. Tate and the orchestra treated soloist and score affectionately and elegantly.