MUSIC AND DANCE REVIEWS : McGLAUGHLIN CONDUCTS SIX ‘BRANDENBURGS’

Even the unrepentant Ebenezer Scrooge would have to smile and dance, given the high spirits, quick tempos and brilliant but mellow soloism offered in the annual, holiday-season package Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra makes of Bach’s six “Brandenburg” Concertos.

Especially in 1986, the year William McGlaughlin has come to town to perk up what may have been a sagging tradition. The music director of orchestras in Tucson, Kansas City and San Francisco, McGlaughlin operates on the podium like a coach on the sidelines: miming, urging, coaxing, making tangible Bachian lines, often beaming when things go well. When things go great, he even stops conducting altogether.

Thursday night in the Beverly Theatre, at the first of four performances, McGlaughlin’s leadership proved all but irresistible, despite the odd acoustical character of the hall and inconsistent instrumental balances in the room.

Yet the playing had style, brio and contagious optimism. McGlaughlin’s clearly differentiated approach to the six works gave each its own head and heart. In No. 6, he let an undercurrent of melancholy emerge, without spoiling the joy in exposed solo lines by violists Janet Lakatos and Roland Kato and, especially, principal cellist Douglas Davis.

In No. 1, the conductor allowed bounce without sing-song, then brought out myriad nuances of tempo, texture and dynamics in the final movement; among other soloists, concertmaster Paul Shure and oboist Allan Vogel shone.

Violinist Bonnie Douglas and flutists David Shostac and Susan Greenberg were the elegant and virtuosic solo trio in No. 4. In No. 3, McGlaughlin chose breathtaking tempos, but let his 11 players enforce those speeds; the results spoke for themselves.

In No. 5, soloists Patricia Mabee (harpsichord), Shure (violin), Shostac and Davis played more dutifully than inspiredly in the opening, hit a higher plateau toward the end.

Led by violinist Daniel Shindaryov and trumpeter Roy Poper, the solo contingent in No. 2 played with fearless ease. The conductor’s tempo-choice in the opening movement resulted in less than fully articulated musical statements; in the finale, the same kind of choice produced sense as well as lightness.