Violinist Shaham’s Intensity Rejuvenates a Masterpiece

Wonderful things happen when least expected. The prospect Thursday night of yet another program of familiar Russian music at the Hollywood Bowl didn’t promise a set of fine-grained, handsomely balanced performances by conductor John Mauceri and his Bowl Orchestra. But that’s what was delivered. And even more ear-opening: Gil Shaham’s resplendent reading of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.

The 27-year-old Shaham achieved what sounded like the performance of a lifetime: a brilliant, technically stunning and lyrically expansive reconsideration of a masterpiece usually treated as a mere vehicle.

He reinstated the intensity, the songfulness and the inexorable continuity of the work, made it lovable despite its familiarity and in the process articulated every last note with meaning. He sailed through complicated passagework effortlessly, caressed every one of the work’s melodic episodes tenderly and held the total together like a master.

One wonders where Shaham, whose beautiful tone and immaculate mechanics have already conquered the music world, can go from here. The answer may come in his bringing to listeners new and neglected works by composers from the two centuries after Tchaikovsky.

This performance, perfectly seconded by conductor Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, set a standard. The achievement was not lost on an enthusiastic audience, which, most unusual for a Thursday night in Cahuenga Pass, accorded Shaham a standing ovation.

At its best for the rest of the evening, the Bowl Orchestra first gave a bright and exuberant account of Glinka’s “Russlan and Ludmilla” Overture, which also reminded us of the vitality sometimes forgotten in familiar pieces.

Then, for the second half, Mauceri revived Leopold Stokowski’s dark-hued transcription of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” a work well known in the brighter colors of the Maurice Ravel orchestration. Stokowski’s realization emerges more Russian, more gloomy than the French composer’s, though it may not replace the earlier setting in the affections of conductors, players and listeners. But this version has many felicities and numerous beauties. It was a pleasure to hear it; Mauceri led the performance with assurance and style.

Oddly, the American conductor, who usually gives generous spoken program notes from the podium at any and all opportunities, on this occasion spoke no words.