The many moods of Mr. Tate

British conductor Jeffrey Tate brought the perfect combination of substance and lightness to his second program with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the Hollywood Bowl this week: Ravel’s “Mother Goose” Suite and Piano Concerto in G, paired with Edward Elgar’s ever-provocative “Enigma” Variations.

On Thursday, this agenda resonated neatly and was performed persuasively by the orchestra, which usually responds carefully to this guest conductor’s gentle coaxing. The Elgar at the end of the evening was particularly successful, a model of musical continuity, nuanced pacing and confident contrasts between its many, disparate moods. Among the orchestra’s first-desk soloists, special contributions came from violist Dale Hikawa, bassoonist Shawn Mouser, French horn player Brian Drake and clarinetist Michele Zukovsky.

The Philharmonic also excelled in the power and delicate stretches of Gallic lyricism of Ravel’s Concerto in G, in which the multi-gifted soloist was Simon Trpceski, having a Bowl debut at merely 25 years of age. The pianist from Macedonia commanded the work’s many facets with ease and insouciance, an effortless technique, considerable charm and a bracing sense of articulation. All the pianistic fireworks were controlled, and Trpceski’s slow movement held the listener in rapt concentration.

The evening’s performance began on a more mundane level, with a national anthem that lacked spirit (and thrust) and a “Mother Goose” Suite nicely played but without its full complement of charm.