PERLMAN, GUGGENHEIM IN HOLLYWOOD BOWL RECITAL

Itzhak Perlman plays a crowd nearly as well as his violin. This became obvious almost immediately at his well-attended recital with pianist Janet Guggenheim at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday evening.

The trouble is that Perlman has been doing this crowd-pleasing number in huge arenas for so long now that he seems in danger of sacrificing his musical integrity. He could soon become the Luciano Pavarotti of the fiddle--especially if he keeps on with the radio commercials.

For most of the program, the king of the Manhattan violinists was operating on automatic pilot, pressing full-speed ahead at forte with his silky, huge tone. Only rarely did he engage emotionally with the material he presented to his adoring fans. He threw his lush sound, Romantic playing style and flashy technique at the crowd like so many bon-bons.

Unfortunately, no matter how delicious bon-bons might be, they provide little nourishment.

Most disturbing from a musical point of view was Perlman’s failure to make any clear distinction in his playing for various kinds of music. He approached the 18th-Century delicacy of Pergolesi (the Sonata No. 12) and the anxious passion of Beethoven (the Sonata No. 9) no differently than he did the Jewish folk song “On the Fireplace.”

Ultimately, they all blended together into a pretty puree. Or is this all one should expect from a midsummer concert?

There was no tension in Perlman’s music-making, no sense of urgency or intensity. This was most telling in the Beethoven Sonata known as the “Kreutzer.” Perlman’s placid interpretation made it very difficult to understand why Leo Tolstoy considered this work to epitomize the dangerous sensuous potential of music.

Perlman was most successful in little pieces that showed off his amazing technical proficiency: Paganini’s Sonatina No.12 or Sarasate’s Introduction and Tarantella. Here, he gave the 11,512 fans plenty of opportunity to ooh and aah.

Janet Guggenheim was the unobtrusive, somewhat bland accompanist.