Music Reviews : Eduardo Delgado With Santa Monica Symphony

Conductor Yehuda Gilad and his Santa Monica Symphony gave thoroughly respectable readings of music by Beethoven and Schubert on Sunday evening at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. But, as usually happens when a community orchestra tackles standard repertory, the soloist stole the show.

Argentine pianist Eduardo Delgado is certainly a familiar keyboard figure for local audiences. He teaches at Cal State L.A. and the Community School of Performing Arts, and plays in concerts regularly throughout the area.

His vehicle on this occasion was Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto, and his approach to it Chopinesque. Delgado could storm with convincing Beethovenian grandeur, but long, liquid, rubato-caressed lines, pearly-toned filigree, and expressive nostalgia characterized the bulk of his interpretation.

At times in the first movement, Delgado’s emphasis on limber melody and pristine passage-work placed his left-hand in limbo. Missing was an audible feeling of two-against-three when the triplet accompaniment went unheard, or the strong off-beat accents.

But the sheer elegance and consistency of his style, coupled with the bravura athleticism of the rondo, ensured an acclamatory reception. Delgado needed little prompting to return with a percussive encore by Ginastera.

Gilad kept the orchestra accommodating, though he pushed Delgado a bit in the opening movement and lagged at first in the finale. Thematic woodwind solos could not always be heard, but otherwise balances were neat in a nicely punctuated accompaniment.

Intonation and rhythmic cohesion had their ruffled moments, but Gilad maintained purposeful momentum in Schubert’s “Tragic” Symphony in C-minor. The concert began with a brisk, sturdy account of Beethoven’s “King Stephan” Overture.