A RARE DVORAK, UNEVEN CHANG.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

Perhaps anticipating that the cold weather and holiday hurly-burly would make us crave warmth, the Los Angeles Philharmonic obliged with a program of Middle European scores on Thursday. And as if to ensure that just the right feelings were imparted to these works -- Dvorak's Symphony No. 6, Bruch's G-minor Violin Concerto and Janacek's ``Taras Bulba'' -- the orchestra enlisted a Czech, Jiri Belohlavek, as guest conductor.

Belohlavek is no callow figure, and the years have clearly deepened his appreciation and understanding of the music native to his part of the world.

Dvorak's Sixth Symphony doesn't get played often, largely because it isn't the equal of such repertory cornerstones as the composer's Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Symphonies. But in Belohlavek's hands, a listener could comprehend from where that later greatness stemmed.

His winning account was distinguished by long-breathed phrases and an emphasis on the work's busy, chugging harmonies. Under his ministrations, the Philharmonic conjured a real sense of the bucolic. You could just picture rivers cascading and young people in folk dress gamboling in wide meadows. In the Adagio, Belohlavek was heartfelt but never schmaltzy, and the finale emerged as powerfully measured yet full of Romantic feeling. The highlight, though, had to be the Scherzo, with its buzzing, fervid strings and rumbling timpani.

Eschewing kitsch, Belohlavek offering appealing bonhomie.

For the Bruch concerto, never long absent from the Philharmonic's programs, the orchestra enlisted Sarah Chang. I heard her with the New York Philharmonic in Dvorak's Violin Concerto a few seasons back and was favorably impressed by the feeling she mustered. I was hoping for something similar here.

Unfortunately her account of the Bruch disappointed.

She elongated the opening statement perversely, stretching it like so much taffy. And though the orchestra had a rich, big sound, Chang's tone was almost puny. It was also unattractively wiry to start, and her phrasing was banal in music that calls for dash.

Things improved in the second movement, in which tenderness flowed from Chang's bow, and Belohlavek handled the accompaniment's arcing lines beautifully.

Indeed, in the softer passages, Chang could be quite poignant, though the charms of the energetic finale for the most part eluded her. But at least she seemed more sure-footed than in the first movement. The orchestra was powerful and focused in any event.

Someone out there must love ``Taras Bulba,'' Janacek's weird, moody suite based on Gogol's story of Cossack wildness. I find it strange, unappealing music -- unlike the rest of Janacek's oeuvre -- but Belohlavek certainly conducted it like a believer. More important, he convincingly led this dark piece, composed in 1918, as a precursor to modernism.

The orchestra gladly obliged him, and this was a rare chance to hear Disney Hall's organ outside of a recital.

JIRI BELOHLAVEK CONDUCTS THE L.A. PHIL, WITH VIOLINIST SARAH CHANG - Two and one half stars

Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

When: 8 tonight and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: $15 to $135. [phone]. www.laphil.com.

In a nutshell: A talented Czech conductor makes a welcome and emotive debut, even as the program's soloist seems distant.

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Sarah Chang continues playing Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 tonight and Sunday at Disney Hall.

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