Music Reviews : Pasadena Symphony Offers Dvorak Work

“On a good night . . .” begins the old saw. What follows depends on the imagination, or astuteness, or analytical gifts of the speaker.

At the Pasadena Symphony concert Saturday evening in Civic Auditorium, such a good night materialized. The entire program--devoted to a short work by John Adams, the First Violin Concerto by Prokofiev and Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony--was not magically performed, but part of it was, and that part sang out in a thrilling way.

Dvorak’s sometimes neglected D-minor work showed music director Jorge Mester and his ensemble in top form: energetic and aggressive, yet disciplined and thoughtful, and at all times in complete rapport.

Their playing of the opening Allegro maestoso, and of large portions of the subsequent movements, had the emotional resonance and the physical ring characteristic of performances by major-league orchestras. Given the stability and quality of these players, that could not necessarily surprise--yet any performance this big-boned and integrated has to surprise. This Dvorak Seventh had orchestral transparency, powerful dynamics, musical sweep and gorgeous soloism.

If the rest of the evening resided on a lower level of impact, it still exerted charms. A pleasant, if not compelling, run-through of Adams’ “The Chairman Dances,” began the evening.

Then, 19-year-old Scott Yoo, clearly a serious violinist of virtuoso rank, gave an appealing, kaleidoscopic and probing performance of the Prokofiev work that sounded easier and more ingratiating than any previous experiences of this demanding concerto could have predicted. In a world of fiery fiddlers, Yoo’s quiet but substantial accomplishment serves as a new kind of role model.