Orchestra Brilliant in Conductor’s Farewell

Royce Hall was filled with well-wishers and partisans when the American Youth Symphony returned to the iconic UCLA auditorium Saturday night after several years away. But the occasion was more than a return, triumphant as that had to be.

It was the farewell concert of Mehli Mehta, AYS conductor for 33 years, the teacher and mentor of several generations of orchestral musicians. Mehta, stepping down after his long association with the training orchestra, chose to go out with two of Ravel’s most demanding display pieces, the Second Suite from “Daphnis et Chloe” and “La Valse,” and Saint-Saens’ “Organ” Symphony.

All went as planned, and the orchestra played brilliantly under the veteran conductor’s watchful leadership.

He walks more slowly now than he did four decades ago, yet Mehta retains his youthful and irrepressible enthusiasm and his encyclopedic knowledge of the repertory. And he commands the respect that causes young musicians to play their best.

Best on Saturday were the rich string sounds and overall ensemble effort brought to Saint-Saens’ Third Symphony, in which UCLA organist Thomas Harmon served as expert soloist. With the university’s historical Skinner instrument still being renovated, Harmon played on a resourceful Allen digital computer organ.

Without raucousness or acoustic overload, the 106-member orchestra and its tasteful soloist filled the renovated hall with beautiful sounds and controlled resonance. Mehta brought freshness and elan to a very familiar work; his younger colleagues gave him a full palette of colors.

Ravel’s test pieces also showed off the instrumental ensemble, its high-achieving wind sections, as well as the integrated strings, handsomely. Over the years, and particularly evident at this performance, Mehta’s gift of teaching the players to listen continually to each other could be appreciated.

Justifiably, for once, the playing was preceded by official recognition of this farewell. Greetings from President Bill Clinton, from Gov. Pete Wilson, from the city of Los Angeles and from the AYS board of directors were conveyed to Mehta. In his brief comments before launching into “Daphnis,” Mehli Mehta dedicated the concert to the memory of Frank Sinatra.