A Bowl of Vivaldi Seasonings

Like several conductors who made their reputations in the period-performance-practice field, Nicholas McGegan is working more and more with so-called conventional orchestras these days. But unlike some who spend their week trying to browbeat a symphony orchestra into sounding like a period-instrument band--which is often like trying to steer a battleship off course--McGegan sagely seems to take his ensembles pretty much as they are.

So, as McGegan returned to the Hollywood Bowl after a five-year absence for an all-Vivaldi outing Tuesday night, we didn’t hear anything resembling a simulation of the raspy tone of catgut strings and swelling attacks from the 30 or so members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Anne Diener Zentner played the Concerto in C minor for Recorder, Strings and Harpsichord RV 441--not RV 411 as was erroneously advertised--on a modern flute. The organ continuo part in the “Laudate pueri Dominum” RV 601 was entrusted to a modern electronic model, and it sounded just fine in the role.

What did come through, though, was the animated spirit and zest of the McGegan we’ve known over the last two decades from his lively appearances with Long Beach Opera and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Weaving from side to side, the elf-like conductor brought lightning-fast tempos to the opening Sinfonia in A, RV 159 and the Recorder Concerto--really challenging Zentner in the latter.

Certain sections of the “Laudate”--a rarely encountered cantata-like setting of Psalm 113--raced along at a bracingly joyous pace, with soprano Christine Brandes growing more radiant as the piece unfolded, nailing the treacherous runs of the closing “Amen.”

Interestingly, it was violin soloist Leonidas Kavakos who ventured the furthest down the period-performance road in the ever wildly popular “The Four Seasons,” using very little, if any, vibrato to produce a broader, less ripe tone. Next to some of the renditions of “The Four Seasons” that continue to flow ceaselessly into the CD shops--the latest, by Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante on Virgin, is a real sizzler that purports to use original manuscripts--McGegan’s tempos no longer would be considered out there on the edge. But he can still convey the near-contemporary strangeness of the opening of “Winter,” enforce strong, leaping rhythms in the dances, and get the Philharmonic to play cohesively throughout.

With the unpredictable sound system cooperating, it was a good night for Vivaldi.