Conductor Dennis Russell Davies returns to Seattle — and brings along a friend

The American-born conductor Dennis Russell Davies, a famous champion of contemporary music, makes his long-awaited return to Benaroya Hall next week in a program that includes two remarkable 20th-century scores. Seattle Symphony audiences will hear Davies conduct the orchestra in Bartok's searing, dramatic "Miraculous Mandarin" Suite, and the contemplative "Lousadzak" ("The Coming of Light") of the late Seattle-based composer Alan Hovhaness. (The Hovhaness work features pianist Maki Namekawa, Davies' regular piano-duo partner, as the soloist.) Also on tap: Schumann's tuneful Symphony No. 4.

Davies' appearance here will also include a duo-piano performance with Namekawa, in which they'll play Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story."

"Since Jerry [Gerard Schwarz] cordially invited me to do two weeks if possible with the orchestra, and graciously accepted my suggestion of Maki Namekawa as soloist in the first week's concerts, it seemed logical to propose that we perform together since we've been a piano duo for nearly four years and have a large and interesting repertory," Davies said last week.

"We thought it would be an interesting way for the Seattle Symphony to reach out to a broader constituency."

A longtime proponent of Hovhaness, Davies said he has known his music since childhood, when he listened to his father's recording of Hovhaness' "Mysterious Mountain." Later, when Davies was music director of the Cabrillo Festival, he programmed Hovhaness' music and got to know the composer.

"He was there as a guest of the festival, and I had the opportunity to meet him and work with him," Davies explained. "And in my last concerts with the Seattle Symphony [March, 1999], I conducted the premiere of Hovhaness' Cello Concerto with Janos Starker, which we also recorded at that time.

"As soon as I knew of the invitation to come to Seattle, I was hopeful to be able to present one of Hovhaness' works at the concert."

In addition to the upcoming program of Bartok, Hovhaness and Schumann, and the April 19 duo piano recital, Davies will stay in Seattle to conduct a second symphonic program of Schubert and Liszt April 23-26, featuring the pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin. For details on all these programs, consult the Web site, www.seattlesymphony.org.

It's a string thing

During this season, the Symphony also has been presenting a series of Beethoven's entire string quartets, as part of the 10th anniversary celebration of Benaroya Hall. Held in the smaller 540-seat Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya, these concerts have featured six visiting ensembles; next week's final program is by the American String Quartet.

They'll play representatives of the early Op. 18 quartets, strongly influenced by Beethoven's predecessors (Op. 18, No. 5); one of the middle-period "Razumovsky" quartets, commissioned by Count Andreas Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador in Vienna (Op. 59, No. 2); and one of the greatest of the late-period quartets, Op. 131. This last quartet, Beethoven's personal favorite, is so advanced and so deep that it still sounds startlingly modern to many 21st-century ears.

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@aol.com