Tempo Crawls in Strong Bowl Program

Audiences grow restless for a variety of reasons. That a healthy sized crowd at the Hollywood Bowl grew restless Thursday night might be attributed to the fragmented nature of the program as well as to its generosity.

Made up mostly of brief segments--neatly performed, to be sure--the program kept listeners in Cahuenga Pass until past 10:45. Audiences notice such things. Better planning was in order.

Yet guest conductor Marin Alsop, completing her two-concert visit with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, got strong and solid results from the orchestra and led her Gershwin-Barber-Copland program stylishly. She did not, however, ameliorate the effects of wandering attention in her listeners caused by too many notes (as the playwright says) flying by.

“An American in Paris” is a good program-opener, and for such admirable purpose it was used here. The Philharmonic, which seems to play the work at least once each summer, delivered its insouciance charmingly. But Alsop did not tie its parts together with sweep or a projected sense of continuity. She merely let it go, which made it seem longer than usual.

She proved equally permissive in Copland’s Four Dance Episodes from “Rodeo,” familiar pieces that can pale aurally when not supported visually by dancers to watch. And she preceded the “Rodeo” excerpts with a suite from “Appalachian Spring,” splendidly performed by the orchestra but offering no new interpretive insights.

At the center of the program, Canadian violinist James Ehnes probed deeply into the poetic wonders and virtuosic glories of the violin concerto by Samuel Barber, a masterpiece heard too seldom.

Ehnes is only 22, but he achieved the burnished beauties and met the technical challenges of the work with complete control. His glowing and rich tone, well-considered thought and on-the-spot inspiration were all what one might expect from a veteran music maker.

Inexplicably, the Bowl’s 1998 amplification system was working overtime at the start of this performance as well as at the end, although at mid-program, the system proved less distracting and balances between the solo violin and the orchestra could be admired for their apparent naturalness. The trend toward overbearing amplification is worrisome.