An Evening of Bracing Bach Under McGegan

Any performance conducted by Nicholas McGegan is likely to be bright, bracing and breezy, and the one he led Thursday night in the Hollywood Bowl lived up to that expectation.

After the Vivaldi sampler he conducted there Tuesday, this was a varied Bach program, a brief symphony by son C.P.E. Bach sandwiched between larger works by father J.S. Bach, and it satisfied the kind of Bach hunger one begins to feel at midsummer.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic played with consistent neatness, if not the embracing crispness and transparency one has come to expect from McGegan’s permanent ensemble, the San Francisco-based Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Nonetheless, the Philharmonic played carefully and with strong reins on its usual lushness. The players clearly enjoy McGegan’s disciplined musicality. The second half of this program achieved focus and clarity in two familiar pieces, the Third “Brandenburg” Concerto as played by an ensemble of 11 and the Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D, with a complement of several handfuls of players. As usual, McGegan coaxed exuberant and near-immaculate playing from his colleagues, who shone, particularly in the exposed “Brandenburg” Concerto.

At the start of the program, after a crisp, tight, practically double-dotted “Star-Spangled Banner,” there were the joys of a Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29, and the elegant sentiments of the “Wedding” Cantata, “Weichet nur.” The effortless and flute-toned soprano soloist in the latter was Christine Brandes, who had also appeared Tuesday.