A bedazzling evening with Beethoven

It has been five years since the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra first arrived in Benaroya Hall to bedazzle Seattle audiences, and its repeat visit Wednesday evening showed that the orchestra's sizzle hasn't subsided any since 2001.

Music director Esa-Pekka Salonen was on the podium for a concert that combined precision and passion, in an unusual pairing: two Beethoven symphonies, Nos. 8 and 5, with the Symphony No. 4 by Polish 20th-century composer Witold Lutoslawski. (Incidentally, the Angelenos also played a Beethoven symphony on their last visit: No. 7.)

Review

Benaroya Hall, Wednesday night

You don't take Beethoven symphonies on tour unless you feel you have something fresh to say with them, and Salonen's take on these works is decidedly crisp and punchy. The jolly Symphony No. 8 sounded fresh in this performance, full of sharp contrasts and accents. And the Symphony No. 5, arguably among the most famous of all classical orchestral works, got a speedy and straightforward reading that didn't linger long over the various stops and starts of the opening, but pressed forward. The big, rumbly double basses and the brass were given plenty of license.

Most interesting of all was the Lutoslawski, a skillfully scored symphony that moved from an ominous, poignant opening to huge, dense climaxes and passages of subtlety.

In one extended section near the end of the work, eerie chords materialized from nowhere, with playing of such extreme delicacy that the entire orchestra sounded utterly transparent.

On the podium, Salonen gave clear and often urgent direction without micro-managing the players. Among those players are what seems like an unusually high number of women, by the way: of the 10 woodwinds playing the Fifth, from piccolo to contrabassoon, only one player was male.

The near-capacity audience, thrilled by the playing, responded with repeated ovations, and Salonen riposted with two encores. First was the famous "Valse triste" of his Finnish countryman, Jean Sibelius, and the finale was the saucy Stravinsky "Galop."

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com