Fireworks Outplay Tired Tchaikovsky

Not long ago, you couldn’t get near the Hollywood Bowl during Tchaikovsky Spectacular weekend, with the “sold out� sign greeting unwary last-minute concertgoers on the Highland Avenue marquee. Not anymore. Granted, 12,356 on Friday night is a hefty gate for Bowl classical programs, but these concerts used to be guaranteed sellouts.

In recent summers, some variations on the formula have been programmed into this Bowl institution, proving that there is plenty of tuneful, audience-friendly Tchaikovsky to choose from. But this edition reverted to about as unimaginative a selection as you can get, with often-flogged war horses like the Piano Concerto No. 1 and “Romeo and Juliet� resuming their familiar positions in front of the “1812 Overture,� flanked by wisps from “Swan Lake� (“Entrance of the Guests�) and “The Nutcracker� (a heavily edited “Waltz of the Flowers� and “Trepak�).

John Mauceri, at least, remains as delightfully sardonic and informative an emcee as ever, and his Hollywood Bowl Orchestra played solidly and cohesively, even during “1812,� when the crowd’s attention was understandably focused on the fireworks. Yet musical fatigue set in during “Romeo and Juliet�; the battle scenes sounded weary and punchy, the love theme just barely rapt enough.

Pianist Peter Donohoe summoned a dark, heavyweight tone from the Steinway in the concerto, pounding out the octaves in a satisfyingly stentorian way, but not squeezing much poetry from the languours of the first movement. While Mauceri and company matched their soloist’s thick-set textures, as usual it was hard to know whether the intentions of the performers or the colorations of the loudspeakers were driving the story.

Though some cynics view this concert as being the equivalent of waiting on line for a couple of hours at Disneyland for a 2 1/2-minute thrill ride, even they have to admit that the payoff at the end of “1812�--those dramatic, brilliantly synchronized fireworks --is always a kick. So it was again.