Music Reviews : Yehuda Gilad in Farewell

In his valedictory appearance Sunday night as music director of the Santa Monica Symphony, Yehuda Gilad received the best of all going-away presents--a committed performance of Mahler’s First Symphony from his musicians. However, the opening works provided scant clues that the evening would be memorable.

Byron Adams’ “Intrada and Alleluia for Brass and Percussion” (1988) presents no threat to conservative listeners. Aural adjustments having been made for the lack of polish and refinement in the playing, one discovered a pleasant and effective exercise in contrasting dynamics and tone colors.

Rodrigo’s ubiquitous “Concierto de Aranjuez” received a tidy reading; guitarist Jack Sanders projected the solo part cleanly (amplified effectively to compensate for the acoustics), accompanied neatly by Gilad & Co. If they failed to plumb any emotional depth, the fault may lie in the affable work itself.

Where straightforward conducting had marked the first half of the evening, Gilad’s podium gestures became as animated as a Disney feature in the Mahler. Alert to virtually every nuance, his orchestra responded with an expressive performance that never threatened to become overblown.

Marred only by brass family lapses in the scherzo, an occasional tentativeness in the treacherous horn passages, Gilad shaped a reading that possessed virtually all any Mahler enthusiast could hope for. Only the last ounce of sweep and power were lacking, yet the final result was a cumulative musical experience not often delivered by more polished orchestras.