A WELCOME VISITOR DRAWS BEST OUT OF PHILHARMONIC.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

THERE'S A SPECIAL joy associated with renewing old ties. It can come from meeting a long-lost high school friend, or seeing a relative for the first time in decades. On Thursday night at Disney Hall, the feeling surfaced when the Swiss-born conductor Charles Dutoit returned to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the first time since 1979.

Dutoit is not exactly a stranger to Los Angeles: He brought the Montreal Symphony here three times in the late 1980s and conducted Berlioz's ``Trojans'' at the Los Angeles Opera in 1991. But he's probably better known these days for the fractious breakup he and Montreal endured in 2002, when he abruptly resigned his 25-year music directorship there after some players groused about his temper.

Yet there was no evidence of anything coarse at the Philharmonic. Indeed, Dutoit - tall, dashing and almost youthful-looking, despite being 67 - seemed the very embodiment of European urbanity and polish. His gestures on the podium were broad and showy, but there was nothing obvious or shallow about the playing he drew from the pliant Philharmonic, seemingly bent on impressing this welcome visitor.

Opening with Berlioz's ``Roman Carnival Overture,'' Dutoit produced a shimmering, forceful sound. His manner was intense enough for his baton to go flying from his hands past the violas, though a deft game of pass-it-forward soon returned the stick to its rightful place.

It would be wrong to credit Dutoit alone for the perfectly balanced, high-octane sound the orchestra achieved. Clearly, the Philharmonic players are becoming more comfortable by the week in their new home.

Rachmaninoff's ``Symphonic Dances'' was played by the Philharmonic as recently as 2001, and that familiarity with the music doubtless contributed to the riveting performance Dutoit elicited. This was music with thrust - the massed strings thrillingly united, the woodwinds sylvan-sounding, the brass plangent. Dutoit has long been praised for his ability to summon orchestral color. And vibrant mood, almost perversely recalling Old Russia, pervaded this richly atmospheric piece, the composer's last.

But showman though Dutoit is, he proved no match for Gil Shaham, who played Brahms' Violin Concerto with a beguiling combination of technical dexterity and rhetorical restraint. Shaham's tone was molten, his phrasing often heartfelt. He turned the first-movement cadenza into something akin to dueling fiddles. And if he didn't offer the most inward account of the ravishing second movement, his sound had a compelling wiry energy. In the fast-paced finale, Shaham, providing the requisite bravura finish, managed to be assertive but not frenzied.

CHARLES DUTOIT CONDUCTS THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC - Three and one half stars

What: Guest conductor Charles Dutoit and the L.A. Philharmonic perform Berlioz and Rachmaninoff on a program also featuring Brahms' Violin Concerto with soloist Gil Shaham.

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

When: 2 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: $15 to $120. Call [phone].

In a nutshell: The long-absent Dutoit makes a most welcome return to the Philharmonic, a reunion made all the sweeter by violinist Gil Shaham's appearance.