LAST-MINUTE CHANGE IS GOOD FOR VON DOHNANYI, L.A. PHIL.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

IN ``THE Importance of Being Earnest,'' Lady Bracknell famously said that to lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Philharmonic paid the esteemed dowager little heed. Instead, the orchestra, under guest conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi, presented an all-Mozart program with not one but two replacement soloists. Flu, we are told, was the culprit. But as Lady Bracknell replied in another context, the reason is immaterial.

What mattered, in this case at least, was the musical result, which was largely superior. Von Dohnanyi, for nearly two decades music director of the esteemed Cleveland Orchestra and now its conductor laureate, and the Philharmonic are relatively recent partners. They had never worked together before the opening of Disney Hall 2 1/2 years ago. But the union is a most fruitful one, with von Dohnanyi's sober Old World values harmonizing gratifyingly with the orchestra's clean, modern sound.

Originally, this program was to be fortified by the presence of two world-class soloists, pianist Andreas Haefliger, performing Mozart's last piano concerto, the No. 27 (K. 595), and soprano Barbara Bonney, lending her sublime tone to the Requiem. Their last-minute illnesses forced the orchestra to scramble for substitutes and, inevitably, the replacements were less well-known figures: 24-year-old, Ohio-born pianist Orion Weiss and soprano Celena Shafer.

Happily, the only serious upset in the program turned out to be exchanging the 27th Concerto for the 19th (K. 459). But that was hardly a loss, given Weiss' vibrant and joyous, if occasionally cautious account. Von Dohnanyi proved the soul of paternal support here, carefully balancing the reduced orchestra and offering the young soloist encouraging winks and smiles throughout the performance.

Weiss lacked a certain penetrating quality in the pensive second movement, but he phrased attractively. In general, his tone was finished and his approach authoritative. Yet especially in the outer movements, he benefited immeasurably from the full sound and zippy tempos that von Dohnanyi and the orchestra offered. It was, in sum, a lovely fusion.

The mood was altogether different for the Requiem, of course. Perhaps outside factors were pressing on Disney Hall's walls, but this touching and inspiring performance seemed an appeal for calm and understanding amid the sectarian violence so much in the news now. Even in such typically fearsome passages as the Dies Irae and the Confutatis, this reading emphasized majesty over violence, and in the Domine Jesu and Lux Aeterna sections, affirmation and joy carried the day.

With Bonney's absence, the performance lacked star soloists - with the possible exception of rising tenor Eric Cutler - and so the focus was entirely on the orchestra and chorus, in this case the USC Thornton Choral Artists. The soloists acquitted themselves well enough, but only Cutler's molten tone was memorable.

What the chorus lacked in textual precision, it more than made up for in heart and volume - some of the men in this collegiate ensemble looked young enough for their voices not to have broken. Nor did it hurt that von Dohnanyi kept the size of the orchestra small, the better to highlight the centrality of the Requiem's words.

CHRISTOPH VON DOHNANYI CONDUCTS THE L.A. PHILHARMONIC - Three and one half stars

What: Von Dohnanyi leads the Phil in two Mozart works - Piano Concerto No. 19 and the Requiem - with pianist Orion Weiss.

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

When: 8 tonight.

Tickets: $15 to $125. [phone] or www.laphil.com.

In a nutshell Even with two replacement soloists, Dohnanyi and the orchestra produce another inspired program.