Young Violinist Tops Rodrigo Centennial

Miguel Harth-Bedoya’s latest program with the Los Angeles Philharmonic is an elegant pops entertainment noting the centenary of the late Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo but centered on Mendelssohn’s E-minor Violin Concerto.

At the first of four performances, Thursday in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, a festive reception greeted the orchestra’s popular associate conductor and his clever agenda.

Yet this occasion of nicely polished performances--of Rodrigo’s “Five Children’s Pieces,” the symphonic poem “A la busca del mas alla” and the cantata “Ausencias de Dulcinea,” plus Mendelssohn’s Overture to “Camacho’s Wedding” and the concerto--netted nothing very substantial beyond young Sarah Chang’s poised and definitive playing of the familiar E-minor work. After that high point, just before intermission, the anticlimaxes arrived.

There is universal regard for Rodrigo’s 11 concertos, at least two of which we hear with regularity. But the works heard Thursday night don’t do much to disturb his overall reputation as a lightweight composer.

“Cinco piezas infantiles” (1923) is a suite using an “Impressionist-influenced international sound” (annotator Howard Posner’s apt description). “A la busca mas alla” follows Holst’s “The Planets” in a colorful but ultimately futile attempt at describing the heavens. “Ausencias de Dulcinea” is a cantata for four sopranos, baritone and orchestra based on an excerpt from Cervantes’ “Don Quixote.” One could admire the courtliness of the text of “The Absence of Dulcinea” without being touched by it.

Solidly performed, all three pieces displayed conductor Harth-Bedoya’s astute handling of any forces under his command, our orchestra’s easy virtuosity in any style, and the vocal gifts of the five singers: Jessica Rivera, Shana Blake Hill, Laura Decher, Renee Sousa and Ian Greenlaw.

The remainder of the evening did more to please all the senses. “Camacho’s Wedding” is a jolly potboiler. And the Violin Concerto is a masterpiece, here played with abundant honesty, sincerity and immaculate surfaces by soloist Chang and the orchestra. Chang, her program bio stated, is now 20. At any age, playing this free-flowing and songful can take your breath away.

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* The Los Angeles Philharmonic repeats this program today at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 2:30 p.m. in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. $10-$70. (323) 850-2000.