Mehta and Stravinsky: An Intense Combination

Returning to the podium of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for his annual visit, Zubin Mehta brought a familiar program--or at least one familiar to those who remember what the popular, then-music director was conducting in January 1973.

It is a two-part agenda pairing Edward Elgar’s conservative Violin Concerto of 1910 and Igor Stravinsky’s epochal “Rite of Spring,” born three years later. It is an odd pairing--the two pieces are quite different--yet the program works because the contrasts between the pieces make each more interesting. It proved viable in 1973 and it made sense Thursday, again in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

The Bombay-born conductor has long specialized in Stravinsky’s great primitivistic musical mural. This time, he revisited its violent nature with the same probing intensity we have come to expect whenever he conducts this composer. The visceral thrills remain in his exhaustive reading, but the frenzy--which always makes the piece exciting--is controlled in every moment. The orchestra gave a full-out performance, but one in which every detail remained in place, balances were buoyant and transparency reigned.

What held the evening together, given the disparate nature of its two, large-scale halves, was the ardency of the protagonists. Elgar’s rambling essay in Edwardian lyricism had the advantage of Pinchas Zukerman’s generous artistry and arcing overview.

The Israeli violinist retains his virtuoso resources and beautiful, effortless tone; he clearly loves this piece, maligned by many, beloved by many others. There was a standing ovation at the end. Mehta and the orchestra collaborated tightly and proved partisan advocates for the long piece.

*

The Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta, and with violin soloist Pinchas Zukerman, repeats this program tonightat 8 and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. $12-$78. (323) 850-2000.