Fischer Generates a Dynamic Tone

In years past at the Hollywood Bowl, conventional repertory could take a beating from the Los Angeles Philharmonic late in the season. The good news Tuesday was that the orchestra still seems engaged, even when the business at hand is Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor.

On the podium was Hungarian Adam Fischer. He generated plenty of contrast in tempo, tone and dynamics, but then contrast isn’t hard to find in this music. More important than volatility is the way Tchaikovsky also morphs the music from one extreme to another over long spans.

Fischer urged these evolutions with eye-on-the-prize intelligence. He allowed the emotional blowups full force, but always with a pointed sense of direction.

This is not easy work, and the Philharmonic gave him committed, responsive playing. The soloist was American pianist Garrick Ohlsson, in Beethoven’s C major Concerto, Opus 15. He overcame an explosive acoustic and a car alarm, ultimately suffusing the slow movement with poignant grace and springing lithely into the finale.

Fischer and the Philharmonic accompanied attentively. They opened with the overture from Rossini’s “Semiramide,” generous in spirit if not quite integrated in ensemble or structure.

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Adam Fischer conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic again tonight at 8, Hollywood Bowl, 2301 Highland Ave., Hollywood. $1-$75. (323) 850-2000.