VIOLINIST CHUNG DAZZLES WITH L.A. PHIL.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

Though the limelight has shifted to a younger generation of Asian fiddlers that includes Midori and Sarah Chang, the Korean violinist Kyung- Wha Chung still draws crowds. And why shouldn't she? At nearly 53, Chung remains a formidable player, one whose characteristically impassioned sound commands attention. She is also a svelte and beautiful woman whose energy seems boundless.

That energy was necessary Thursday night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, when Chung gave her first Los Angeles recital in seven years. Her program, which she is taking across the country on her first major American tour in two decades, plays largely to her strengths, but the music is taxing. And with the exception of Bach's challenging ``Partita No. 2 in D Minor,'' it is exclusively Russian.

Chung could hardly have opened with a better choice than Stravinsky's five-part ``Duo Concertant'' given this city's present ``Igormania.'' It was in any event a fine showpiece for Chung and her recital partner, the Israeli pianist Itamar Golan. Chung's tone had plenty of sinew, but her phrasing was often subtle. In the third movement, for instance, her sound suggested rue rather than more obvious self-pity.

Prokofiev's First Violin Sonata was an intense, focused exercise in Chung's hands. Her tone shimmering, she summoned ample atmosphere for this often anguished music. The finale began with Chung and Golan playing with abandon, yet they pulled off a moving ending effortlessly.

The two short Rachmaninoff pieces - the lushly expressive ``Romance'' and the fervent ``Danse Hongroise'' - were practically encores, but Chung brought to them a warmth and charm rightly absent from the rest of the program.

Only in the Bach, the evening's sole solo work, did Chung disappoint. To her credit, she performed this touchstone lovingly, not grandly. But there was too little reflection in her intensely private reading. And though the violinist evinced ample concentration throughout, especially in the great Chaconne, too little imagination characterized her playing.

Despite much applause, Chung and Golan offered only one encore: Debussy's ``Beau Soir.'' Evocative, delicate and full of glinting colors, it proved a perfect capper.