Stucky, Salonen: ‘Lumiere’ to the Max

Bracing, complex and entirely engaging, Stephen Stucky’s 13-year-old “Son et lumiere,” first heard here when Andre Previn and the Los Angeles Philharmonic introduced it in 1990, returned to the orchestra’s programs Thursday night.

As conducted this time--probingly--by Esa-Pekka Salonen, it’s not everything we remember, and it’s certainly not as Minimalist as its composer claims in his program note, but it’s still a keeper.

Because its thought is dense and its textures decidedly unchaotic, the full-orchestra piece seems more maximalist than otherwise; the directness of its expression and the continuous invention of its lines establish an unflagging rapport between composer and listener. Nine minutes long, thick with instrumental activity in all the ensemble’s sections and fraught with tics and twitches, the piece is both tortured and jolly. It amuses and provokes, and the receptive Dorothy Chandler Pavilion audience on Thursday cheered the composer.

This bright overture preceded two repertory staples that the orchestra then performed in high spirits and with admirable polish. Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto brought back to the Pavilion stage young Norwegian Leif Ove Andsnes, who played it with command and an unsurprising effortlessness--his impeccable technique and unstrained musicality have become his signatures.

The lack of struggle in this case, however, lessened its impact. Imperturbability is an asset, but Andsnes flattened out the work’s emotional climaxes to the point where its triumphs were not always expressed, particularly in the peaks of the opening movement. In the finale, the soloist achieved more of the self-intoxication and mesmerizing urgency that definitive interpreters of the work deliver consistently.

The evening ended with another blockbuster, Sibelius’ popular Second Symphony, given a reading of engrossing sympathy and handsome surfaces by Salonen and the attentive orchestra. The work unfolded convincingly, its continuity undistracted and its beauties undisturbed.

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This program will be repeated tonight, 8 p.m., and Sunday, 2:30 p.m., Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. $12 to $78. (323) 850-2000.