Drama of Mozart Captured by Pianist Helene Grimaud

In his Hollywood Bowl debut, Peter Oundjian conducts two Mozart concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic this week. Under his leadership, the orchestra on Tuesday night produced a mixed Mozartean bag; generally unpolished, sometimes scruffy playing alternated with more attentive, neat performances, respectable but inconsistent.

So, the center of this first program in every way turned out to be Helene Grimaud’s incandescent playing of the great D-minor Piano Concerto, K. 466, an engrossing experience cheered loudly by the appreciative Tuesday audience.

Some consider this Mozart’s greatest--certainly most dramatic--work in the form, a piece that touches tragic depths as well as seraphic repose. The French-born pianist delivered all of its facets, with the bonus of nearly breathless ease and fluency.

She began with a matter-of-fact literalism, then let the drama of the piece grow, gradually expanding the emotional boundaries as it progressed. By the time she arrived at the climax of the first movement, in the cathartic cadenza that Beethoven contributed to Mozart’s masterpiece, the listener was fully engaged.

The deceptively calming start of the slow second movement followed inexorably, broken up by its inevitable, stormy digression. The finale balanced the drama with more storms and an ostensibly lighthearted closing. As with a lot of Mozart--think of “Don Giovanni”--the apparently facile ending does not cancel the tragic events that preceded it.

The young Grimaud made it easy to follow, leading the listener through all the action with a sculptured spontaneity and giving meaning to every note and phrase.

Oundjian and the Philharmonic contributed attentively to the concerto. In the Symphonies Nos. 29 and 38 (the “Prague”), the playing moved along, but inconsistently. Balances were not maintained--this was one night in which the treble dominated and the bass often faded out; the Bowl’s amplification system proved unreliable much of the time. Oundjian, who used to be an admired chamber musician, is still finding his way as a conductor.

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Peter Oundjian conducts the L.A. Philharmonic in another Mozart program, tonight, 8 p.m., Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. $1-$85. (323) 850-2000.