MUSIC REVIEW : Skrowaczewski Leads Pittsburgh Symphony in Beethoven Program

Under the scrutiny of a challenging Beethoven program, as well as the gaze of a demilune sky, the Pittsburgh Symphony continued its weeklong engagement at Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday night.

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski was again the controlling, commanding guest conductor of the touring Pennsylvania ensemble, which again gave a performance of solid instrumental values, mellow and cohesive sound and unshakeable balances.

The Second “Leonore” Overture, the B-flat Piano Concerto and the Fifth Symphony were the subjects of Skrowaczewski’s probing on this occasion. For the most part, his ministrations yielded felicitous, if often unconvincingly quick, performances.

Over the years, Skrowaczewski has proved himself a thinking as well as a visceral leader of orchestras. Wednesday night, he seemed in moments to be thinking too much.

In the Fifth, busy hands threatened to bend out of shape the noble lines of the slow movement, making that Andante, paradoxically, both faster and longer than ideal. The outer movements suffered from a similar pushiness, a breathlessness of thought that robbed the work of its inevitability. Nonetheless, the orchestral playing emerged with splendid force, polish and clarity.

Unanimity of attack and precise control of contrasts marked the Overture; the striking trumpet solo was played by co-principal Charles Lirette from a position halfway up the amphitheater, on the western rim.

Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich was the authoritative pianist in a serious and sculptured reading of the B-flat Concerto that lacked only a sense of humor; without any smiles, the joy was missing. Skrowaczewski and the ensemble proved themselves strong and sensitive partners.

Official attendance: 9,288.