Scott Cantrell

Jaap van Zweden made his official debut Friday evening as music director of the Dallas Symphony – in California. He led the orchestra in a concert at the Lincoln Theater in Yountville, as part of the Festival del Sole in Napa Valley.

The concert was broadcast live here on WRR-FM (101.1).

Alas, it was hard to judge the performances through audio that, at least on my stereo system, sounded pretty awful. Not until the concert's second half, devoted to the Beethoven Seventh Symphony, was it entirely clear that the orchestra had a violin section. Apparently with their own separate microphones, the winds sometimes leapt way out in front of the rest of the orchestra.

Trumpets sounded like kazoos. And the louder the music got, the softer it actually sounded, thanks to the radio station's dynamic limiter.

Insofar as one could tell, the Beethoven was rhythmically intense and alive with myriad taperings great and small.

The Ravel Piano Concerto in G also got a vivid performance, with Jean-Yves Thibaudet imparting a perfect balance of Gallic sparkle and suavity.

Maybe the on-again- off-again programming of the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 took a toll on that performance, which opened the concert. Originally booked to play the work, Dmitry Sitkovetsky canceled earlier this week after being injured in a golf cart accident. But at the last minute he apparently decided to play after all.

An aristocratic violinist in the David Oistrakh mold, Mr. Sitkovetsky should be a natural for this concerto. But Friday's performance sounded cautious all around, with hardly a hint of the work's magic.

After the roar of bravos at the end of the Beethoven, Mr. van Zweden led the orchestra in a rousing Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 5.

The orchestra will close the two-week festival Sunday afternoon with an all-Mahler program.

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