MUSIC REVIEW : To Leinsdorf, Three’s Company

Erich Leinsdorf returned to the podium of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Thursday after a three-year absence. Remember that statistic.

On the eve of his 78th birthday, the old pro isn’t terribly fond of conventional grab-bag programs. He likes to concoct thematic grab-bag programs.

He writes his own rules, then toys with them. On this occasion, he played a concert by the numbers. Actually, he played a concert about a number: Three.

Roy Harris’ Third Symphony opened the quasi-festivities. This was followed by Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements. After intermission came Debussy’s Trois Nocturnes. For a potentially climactic finale, the maestro stretched a bit, selecting three excerpts from Berlioz’s “Damnation de Faust.”

Leinsdorf probably found deep significance in all this trinity symbolism. There must have been a method in his madrigal. There always is.

Perhaps the hidden message was mystical or religious. Perhaps it represented a private joke.

To some, the juxtaposition of triangular disparities no doubt suggested some provocative, unifying truth. To others, it merely seemed an arbitrary gimmick. Count this observer among the others.

At least the orchestra performed beautifully. It always does for Leinsdorf.

He remains a supreme technician. He doesn’t even need a baton. His loose, swinging arm motions may look ungainly, but they inspire precise responses.

When Leinsdorf is in charge, one can take certain achievements for granted. Timbral details will be impeccably delineated. Dynamic distinctions will be observed. The choirs will be sensitively meshed and balanced. Exaggerations will be avoided. There will be no confusion between primary and secondary voices. Entrances will be unanimous, and so will cut-offs. Climaxes will arrive on time and in proper contextual focus.

This man knows how to play his instrument. He commands respect.

He doesn’t always offer equal stimulation, however, to the head and to the heart. His three’s-company concert sounded better than it felt. It offered more surface appeal than substance.

The Harris symphony, written in 1939, is a solid little period piece that dabbles in neo-romantic pleasantries, with the harmonic punctuation slightly askew. Leinsdorf reiterated its modest dramatic statements with apparent conviction.

In the Stravinsky symphony, he enforced jaunty momentum where possible, and savored the obvious structural divisions. He favored lush orchestral indulgence, however, that seemed at odds with the dry objectivity preferred by the composer. He also tended to slight the crisp accents to which we have become accustomed.

The conductor’s quest for force and clarity stripped the misty shimmer from Debussy’s Nocturnes. Still, one could appreciate the fervor of this arguably Germanic interpretation on its own robust terms. The orchestra made up in brilliance what it lacked in sensuality, and the women of the Master Chorale impersonated properly beguiling Sirenes .

The Berlioz selections, performed with much gusto and not so much subtlety, provided a send-’em-home-happy finale. Some people went home happier than others.

Contrary to popular speculation, Leinsdorf did not explore “Three Blind Mice” as an encore.