Gaillard concert a smash

The Charleston Concert Association brought Bruckner Orchester Linz to the Gaillard Auditorium for a smashing all-Leonard Bernstein concert Monday night.

The Danube and the Hudson must run with the same waters, because these Austrians played this all-American music with the utmost aplomb and style.

The full orchestra opened with Bernstein's "Symphony No. 1" ("Jeremiah"). The harsh "Prophecy" movement was followed by the "Profanation" scherzo, perhaps meant to evoke the rituals of pagan invaders.

Mezzo-soprano Kathryn Handsaker provided a voluptuous and rich overlay to the closing "Lamentation" movement. Though the orchestration is heavy, her voice consistently rose to thrilling climaxes.

A reduced string section, plus harp and percussion, returned to play "Serenade (after Plato's Symposium)," featuring violin soloist Renaud Capucon.

The presto "Eryximachus" movement was thrilling, giving way to the exalted "Agathon" adagio. Capucon played with brio throughout, and his dialogue with a cello soloist in the closing "Socrates -- Alcibiades" was quite dramatic.

The familiar "Symphonic Dances from 'West Side Story' " began a bit squarely, and I thought perhaps conductor Dennis Russell Davies had misjudged the score, but the players hit the mark in the "Mambo," and from there to the end they were cookin'. The " 'Cool' Fugue" was hot!

The single encore was Dmitri Shostakovich's transcription of "Tea for Two."