Music and Dance Reviews : Long Beach Symphony at Terrace Theater

How refreshing it is to hear a program composed of substantial, under-performed works. And how rewarding to hear these pieces played with the kind of energy and polish the Long Beach Symphony demonstrated Saturday evening at the Terrace Theater.

Listeners are familiar, of course, with the Prelude and “Liebestod” from Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” But live performances are not terribly frequent nowadays, and the orchestra’s seamless reading of these excerpts made an effective opening to this largely 20th-Century concert.

Bartok’s Third Piano Concerto, the last work the composer brought to virtual completion, is ebullient, optimistic and, like most of the composer’s late works, highly accessible. It is rich in pianistic and orchestral color, folk-like in thematic content and clear in form. Pianist Leon Bates brought assurance and vitality to the solo part, capitalizing on the manifold textural and timbral variety of the score. His vision of the work proved thoughtful and profound, and he played with absolute control. Conductor Murry Sidlin also showed a thorough understanding of the score, and his orchestra played with the utmost sensitivity.

Copland’s skillful manipulation of relatively straightforward melodic material and his brilliant orchestration make his Third Symphony an American masterpiece. Sidlin and company delivered a definitive argument for the work, in an intelligently planned, driving performance. Plaudits to the brass section, which rendered the familiar fanfare with commanding heroism, to the eloquent woodwind (and horn) soloists and to Sidlin, who presided over an extraordinarily cogent reading: well-balanced, transparent and clear in purpose.