A beautiful balmy evening. Blissful Beethoven. The Bowl. Although they had to dodge a helicopter or two, the alliteration gods beamed Tuesday night over the Cahuenga Pass.
The title of the Hollywood Bowl program was “Nothing but Beethoven." Christian Zacharias, who conducted and was solo pianist in the First Piano Concerto, made his debut in the large amphitheater. The Los Angeles Philharmonic was not “nothing but." We've reached the dog days of August, when many players are absent. Musicians seldom in the spotlight tried out a few of the first desk chairs. The ubiquitous camera pans of the orchestra on the video screens displayed the occasional unfamiliar substitute face.
A cynic could grouse. Ushers act as border guards before the concert and during intermission yet allow free-flowing crossings during an angelic slow movement to picnic- centric latecomers. Those who don't bring their own are subject to Patina's ever-rising prices.
But the alliteration gods are not to be discounted. It was a terrific concert. And the crowd of more than 10,358 that turned up on a weeknight for Beethoven from a non-celebrity conductor and pianist was roughly the same size as Saturday night's for an Eric Idle extravaganza. The culture gods still matter as well.
