Touching, Graceful Concert From Moscow Orchestra

With the rush of Russian orchestras plying the Western countries since the days of perestroika, it’s often difficult to sort them all out. Yet the Moscow Chamber Orchestra does have its own historic pedigree dating back to 1956, best known in the West for its searing world premiere recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14 under founder Rudolf Barshai some 20 years ago.

Happily, the 17-member string ensemble seems to be in very capable hands these days, appearing in L.A. for the first time under the direction of its San Francisco-born music director (since 1991) Constantine Orbelian in Canoga Park’s Madrid Theatre Thursday night.

The best example of its work was Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, which, despite relentless overexposure these days, can still touch the listener given a deeply felt performance like this.

Seamlessly and fleetly handled, with arches forming within the sweeping overall arches of each movement, no schmaltz and some revelatory touches such as the bleak, Shostakovich-like opening to the finale, it sounded disarmingly natural, as if Orbelian simply let his fine musicians play out.

Except for an atypically scrappy opening to the third movement, the Muscovites played Mozart’s brief Divertimento in F, K. 138 fluidly, cohesively, with carefully shaped control over dynamics.

Alexander Arutiunian’s Violin Concerto 1988--a West Coast premiere according to Orbelian--was a pleasant, unabashedly Romantic vehicle with faint touches of Armenian color, outbreaks of perpetual motion and long, lyrical, legato lines sustained with remarkable concentration by concertmaster Dmitry Khakhamov.

Prior to Tchaikovsky, there was room for some bits of mischievous and graceful Shostakovich in the form of five Preludes from Opus 34 as orchestrated by Barshai. And the unusual encores were most ingratiating--a tangy Armenian folk song, a yearning Astor Piazzolla tango and Vieuxtemps’ circusy fantasy on “Yankee Doodle.”

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* The Moscow Chamber Orchestra plays at the Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro, tonight at 8, $20-$35, (310) 548-7466, and it also plays a free concert in Bing Theater at LACMA, 5950 Wilshire Blvd., Sunday, 6 p.m., (213) 485-6873.