Another moment stood out -- the amazing oboe solo that Beethoven placed in the first movement, where it momentarily stops all the tension. I've heard too many performances where conductors restrict the soloist's freedom, and the dramatic potential for this unexpected little pause. Perlman allowed the BSO's assistant principal oboist Shea Scruggs all the time and liberty he wanted, and the result was magical, as much from the exquisite tone and expressive shading that Scruggs produced as for the space that the conductor provided for it.

The rest of the performance was less remarkable, with traditional, safe tempos being the rule, but it was always engaging. A few slips of cohsiveness aside, the orchestra sounded sturdy and involved.

Perlman obviously brought keen sensibilities to Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings, and he ensured that the music flowed with lyrical intensity. Individual sections of the ensemble sounded thin and not quite smoothly blended at times, but tutti passages swelled richly.

The prorgam started with Bach's Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin, with BSO principal oboist Katherine Needleman and Perlman as the soloists. It sounded more like a concerto for oboe, since Meyerhoff's otherwise admirable acoustics don't always flatter solo string instruments. But in the slow movement, the interplay between Needleman and Perlman emerged clearly and elegantly. The soloists enjoyed generally smooth support from a baroque-sized complement of players.

One little oddity of the program -- it had a lot of C in it, C minor being the home key for the concerto and symphony, C major for the serenade. Of course, after all the upheavals we've been through around here this winter, encountering such a firm harmonic grounding might have been just what we needed.

The concert repeats Saturday at Strahmore, Sunday at Meyerhoff; tickets are extremely scarce.

PHOTO (by Akira Kinoshita) COURTESY OF IMG ARTISTS