MUSIC REVIEWS : The East Berliners Play in Costa Mesa

The Berlin Symphony of the German Democratic Republic traveled to Costa Mesa on Saturday, offering Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” in place of the Tchaikovsky Fifth that had occupied the second half of the East Berliners’ program last week in Los Angeles.

Despite the more flattering acoustical perspective of the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Segerstrom Hall, it remained clear that this accomplished orchestra is not a virtuoso ensemble.

Its current tour programs seem to show it at its best--with admirable dynamic resources, a few strong soloists (in particular the horns) and potent rapport with conductor Claus Peter Flor. But its string sound can be uncohesive and scrawny, some of the woodwind principals are low-achievers and genuine transparency seldom occurs in its performances.

Flor’s careful reading of Dvorak’s most popular work found many convincing moments alternating with a few unthinking ones. When the 34-year-old conductor chooses to shape or caress a phrase, he can do so without impeding movement or thought; what seems to be missing in his interpretive arsenal is long-range continuity through a movement or work.

The (repeated) first half of this program--presented by the Orange County Philharmonic Society--offered Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony and Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto, with Michael Erxleben again the excellent soloist.