Conductor Robinson in Uneventful Bowl Debut

The Los Angeles Philharmonic shows off its three other conductors at the Hollywood Bowl this week: Andrew Robinson, Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Kristjan Jarvi. Appointed a year ago as assistants, one of them, Harth-Bedoya, has already been promoted to associate.

First on display currently is Robinson, a 27-year-old Australian, who made his Bowl debut Tuesday night.

It turned out to be an inauspicious occasion, though Robinson presided over, at the end of the evening, a presentable and uneventful run-through of Respighi’s showy “Pines of Rome.”

Before that, he was on shaky ground in an operatic program sung by soprano Alessandra Marc and tenor Fernando de la Mora. Neither singer began the proceedings in good voice; moreover, their low energy, the orchestra’s indifference and the funereal tempos emanating from the podium made the first half a deadly bore.

Marc warmed up slowly and sang effortfully--her obvious and frequent breathing distracted regularly from the music at hand. She sang arias from Cilea’s “Adriana Lecouvreur” and Puccini’s “Tosca”; Mora contributed Federico’s Lament from “L’Arlesiana,” and “E lucevan le stelle” before joining Marc in part of the first-act duet from “Tosca.”

Operatic evenings at the Bowl can boil over with excitement; this one barely maintained a simmer.

Conductor Robinson and the soloists came back from intermission somewhat more energized, though neither Mora’s singing of “La paterna mano” from Verdi’s “Macbeth” nor Marc’s undistinguished “Pace, pace” from “La Forza del Destino” proved memorable. After the Mexican tenor sang “Che gelida manina” from “La Boheme,” the best part of the evening arrived.

Now at last in her element, Marc gave a brilliant performance of “In questa reggia” from “Turandot,” the role that has become her signature. Here was, finally, practiced and polished singing, the sort that had eluded both artists earlier in the evening. Mora even joined in, appropriately, at the climax. For a few brief moments, this evening fulfilled its promise.

* Jarvi conducts tonight at 8:30, and Harth-Bedoya conducts Friday and Saturday at 8:30 p.m., Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. $3-$100. (323) 850-2000.