Balletic Leaps for Russian Orchestra

Ballet music is a natural and inevitable showcase for symphonic display, but listeners don’t necessarily perceive its value.

Enter, or, rather, reenter the Russian National Orchestra, coming back to the Hollywood Bowl after a three-year break this week for two concerts, plus a gig with jazzman Dave Brubeck at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts that was on Monday night.

The first of the Bowl concerts, under the ensemble’s associate conductor, Dmitri Liss, was devoted to three familiar Russian ballet scores: a suite from Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,” the Divertimento from Stravinsky’s “Fairy’s Kiss” and the 1945 version of the same composer’s suite from “The Firebird.” And the orchestra won over the modest audience Tuesday night with a special gift of a performance.

Presided over with the large, high gestures of Liss, the music was compelling. The orchestra, founded in 1990, and the first Russian symphonic organization since 1917 to be free of government control, is a virtuosic band that balances strong ensemble values with accomplished solo playing.

On this evening, the woodwind and brass soloists, in particular trumpet player Vladislav Lavrik in the “Swan Lake” excerpts, shone.

All the playing boasted transparency, an ingrained sense of style and a line of continuity that propelled the music forward. Some of the tempos pushed themselves beyond those that dancers might choose, yet nothing hectic or frenzied colored these readings. Liss’ leadership is excitable but not precipitous.

With an unforced authenticity, everything fell into place: the showiness and bravura of the character dances in “Swan Lake,” the quirkiness, wit and flights of fancy in “Fairy’s Kiss,” the familiar and beloved landscape of “Firebird.”

The Russian National Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Vedernikov and with soloists soprano Galina Gorchakova and baritone Sergei Leiferkus, plays an operatic program in Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, tonight at 8. $1-$76. (323) 850-2000.