Polish orchestra has things well in hand

The Warsaw Philharmonic, performing at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, accomplished quite a feat Monday night. Quite a feat, that is, for anyone suspicious of Krzysztof Penderecki and his “Polymorphia.”

When he wrote this 10-minute work for strings in 1961, Penderecki was 28 and Poland’s most famous living composer, a fashionable avant-gardist who easily managed to get around Soviet restrictions against artistic Modernism. The world noticed, and he became a wealthy man. Today, he bends with the wind and turns out tiresome Neo-Romantic scores.

In neither style can his music be trusted. “Polymorphia” experiments with graphic notation and exploits unusual instrumental sounds. But it is phony avant-garde, an empty exercise, and it ends with a smug wink and nod in the form of a C major chord.

Few care about this music any longer -- especially given that Poland produced such enduring 20th century composers as Witold Lutoslawski and Henryk Gorecki -- and I would be surprised if a single member of Monday’s audience had come expressly to hear “Polymorphia.” There were other attractions.

The conductor Antoni Wit, the Warsaw Philharmonic’s music director, is well known in Poland, and the sound of Polish accents was not uncommon in the lobby. Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony was reserved for after intermission. Plus, Olga Kern, the young Russian pianist, was on hand as soloist for Chopin’s First Piano Concerto.

But first that remarkable feat in the Penderecki. The score opens with a buzzing sound in the low basses, and they made a magical effect. The composer deserves some credit: He has an undeniable ear for sonority. But Wit and his Warsaw players deserve the most credit. In typical East European fashion, the conductor builds orchestral sound from the bottom up. The double basses and cellos are the foundation of that sound.

So solid and yet alive were those low strings at the beginning of “Polymorphia” that I, for one, felt immediately secure. The music may be manipulative, but the musicians were not. And that marvelous feeling of well-being did not abate all evening, as the winning Warsaw ensemble and its old-fashioned conductor wrung great emotion out of everything they played, all the way up to their last encore, “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

Kern was lucky to have such accompanists, and her record company, Harmonia Mundi, was on hand to record the performance for release next year. Her Chopin playing was perfectly formed. But she existed in a world quite apart from the Poles.

She has a large tone, smooth and polished to a high gleam, while the orchestra digs roughly and expressively into every note. She is not spontaneous; they are. She never comes in late; they do now and then. She flirts and charms at the keyboard; they grab you by the lapels.

Thus, the orchestral background was full of grit and tension and gripping forward energy, whereas the solo piano floated in the foreground, gorgeous but unswayed. Beauty met the beast. Each seemed interested in the other but not attracted in any meaningful way.

Wit led the Tchaikovsky symphony as if he meant it. Getting a large orchestra onto the small Barclay stage was a tight fit -- the Philharmonic Society, which presented the concert, couldn’t use its regular venue at the Orange County Performing Arts Center because “The Lion King” got there first.

Still, Wit didn’t let the close quarters keep Tchaikovsky’s climaxes in check. They clotted into thickly clustered chaos more striking than anything Penderecki came up with. The solo winds and brass -- so emotional that they didn’t bother with perfect intonation, and even dropped notes -- were right next to your ears.

The power of the playing was compelling, and the basses never let the listener down. With that splendid sonic foundation, Wit could build anything above it he liked. If the brass and winds swayed dangerously, you knew they would not fall, that there was always support.

No doubt we will be hearing much from Kern over the coming years. She is young and attractive, and she’s figured out ways to win a crowd. I hope we can hear more of Wit as well beyond this tour with her, which takes them to San Luis Obispo tonight and Santa Barbara on Thursday. He is no longer young. And he appears to have figured out far less. He makes music for the moment, and for real.