A subdued ‘Military’ campaign from Eri Klas

ESTONIAN-born conductor Eri Klas made his U.S. debut in 1991 leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and he has returned to the summer concert series with some regularity. Tuesday night, he took the helm for Haydn’s “Military” Symphony and Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto, with Andre Watts as soloist.

Because he was once a junior lightweight boxing champion, you’d expect Klas to know something about feints and stratagems and to be attuned to “the hellish roar of war” that a London reviewer heard in Haydn’s symphony at its 1794 premiere. But he led a patrician, urbane performance of the work that hardly hinted at rough energy, vigor or even sly wit.

Admittedly, Haydn’s alarms are hard to bring off in 2005. But they were inspired by once-real fears of a Turkish invasion of Europe in the 17th century -- even though, at the time the composer was writing, those fears were evoked from a safe distance. Surely, the “Turkish” battery (triangles, cymbals and bass drum) should be more than a soupcon of flavoring, as they were Tuesday. Then too, maybe the Philharmonic was on automatic pilot.

A similar emphasis on broad, balanced architecture and nobility characterized Klas’ reading of the Brahms concerto, which clashed somewhat with Watts’ more detailed interpretation. The pianist found poetry, power and shades of meaning in the music that unfortunately were seldom reflected in the conducting or the orchestra’s playing.

A real sense of the work’s expressive possibilities emerged instantly, however, when cellist Daniel Rothmuller launched the songful opening of the slow movement, and for a while the music had a unified, living heart.

Once again, the video projections of the musicians showed increasing variety and ingenuity, from the chamber orchestra perspectives in the Haydn to the focus on Watts’ hands in the Brahms. The amplification system did justice to the piano, a difficult instrument to capture.