Affecting MacMillan thrills

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The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra arrived at Strathmore on Thursday evening under the baton of guest conductor and composer James MacMillan. The Scottish native devoted roughly half the program to two of his own compositions, returning after the intermission with a scintillating reading of Beethoven's delightful but infrequently performed Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36.

His music is highly irreverent and often fearlessly dissonant, relying a bit too much, at times, on musical quotations from the classical past. However, it also fearlessly incorporates the Scotch-Irish folk music that's part of Mr. MacMillan's tradition, much as composers from Chopin through Bartok commonly did with their own musical heritages.

Taking the place of an opening overture, Mr. MacMillan's first composition, "Stomp (with Fate and Elvira)," fleshed out its odd title by pairing the opening fanfare of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony (the "fate" motif) with the dreamy tune from the slow movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto 21, made famous in the 1967 romantic film "Elvira Madigan."

Subsuming both themes under a raucous Celtic jig accompanied by a pair of spoons and a Gaelic hand drum called a "bodran," this lively piece gallops toward a satisfying conclusion, made even more effective by the BSO's obvious enthusiasm.

Mr. MacMillan's more substantial Piano Concerto No. 2 also relies on Celtic themes, but hearkens back to the first half of the 20th century when such composers as Prokofiev and Bartok reimagined the piano as a percussion instrument. Mr. MacMillan makes the piano the single percussion instrument in the ensemble, employing only the string sections to accompany the soloist. Adhering to a traditional three-movement structure, this work offers the solo part unison moments with the strings, splitting it out occasionally to offer romantic sallies over distant, dissonant, shimmering string harmonies.

The finale transforms the piano into a veritable battery of percussion effects with the pianist hammering rhythms on the underside of the keyboard and concluding with a visually and aurally spectacular solo flourish of rhythmic tone clusters hammered out with flying fingers, fists and elbows. Indefatigable British pianist Rolf Hind played the concerto brilliantly, displaying astonishing skill and stamina, particularly in the finale.

For audiences who think they hate modern music, there's nothing to fear here. Like some rugged Highlanders, this music is wild stuff, but it's good, vigorous music and deserves to be performed by major ensembles to see how it might fit in evolving repertoires sorely in need of updating.

The BSO also performed the Beethoven Symphony No. 2 with gusto. The players executed Mr. MacMillan's sunny concept of the work with infectious enthusiasm, particularly in the quirky scherzo and the rousing finale.

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WHAT: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, with James MacMillan

WHERE: Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore

WHEN: Tonight at 8 and tomorrow at 3 p.m.

TICKETS:$15 to $57

PHONE:Call 877/783-8000

WEB SITE: www.bsomusic.org

MAXIMUM RATING: FOUR STARS