Philadelphia Orchestra Paris Fest: Another semi-pops concert?

After a tense day of Center City street closures and demonstrations surrounding the presidential visit, the Philadelphia Orchestra's light-to-midweight Paris Festival finale on Thursday wasn't entirely preferable to a hot bath, aspirin, and something otherworldly, like a recording of Bach's Mass in B minor.

The concert had dazzling but emotionally cool crowd-pleasers in a mostly Ravel second half that included Rapsodie Espagnole, Alborada del gracioso, Bolero, and a reprise of Fauré's Pavane that was heard two weeks ago. Performances could not have been better, with music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin's extraordinary ear for Ravel's sonic architecture. Every instrument blended meticulously -- or not, during incidental solos -- in the composer's evocations of Spanish culture.

Though I've often heard Bolero's repeating themes and rhythms as something akin to Andy Warhol silk screens (with the same image repeated in different colors), Nézet-Séguin's quicker-than-usual version had the piece's episodes flowing more subtly, creating an inner journey, thanks partly to solos played with increasing delirium, not strictly wedded to the printed notes. But years back, when Charles Dutoit programmed Bolero and commented to the audience, "I know that's what you're waiting to hear," Philadelphians traded puzzled looks. This does not seem to be a community that longs for Bolero.

Life outside the Kimmel Center's doors has changed: With the National Endowment for the Arts again under fire, the Philadelphia Orchestra needs to be more than an ornamental source of civic pride -- something that can significantly lead the city's artistic, intellectual, and spiritual life. Bernstein's Mass a few seasons back was one way: Like it or not, the piece had people talking about the right kinds of things. Planned at least a year ago, this Paris Festival should never have been so conventional.  And the problem isn't just a hometown one. The just-announced 2017-18 Carnegie Hall season will be opened by the Philadelphia Orchestra playing Bernstein -- but the less-provocative stuff.

At least Thursday's concert began with Berlioz's Harold in Italy -- the more adult and musically evolved counterpart to the Symphonie Fantastique, with its series of impressions loosely inspired by the travels of Lord Byron. The combined physicality and classicism of the music had Nézet-Séguin and the orchestra operating on all cylinders, while the piece's protagonist/soloist, represented by principal violist Choong-Jin Chang, was positioned at varying parts of the stage, adding a spatial element implied by the music's evocations of mountain scenery.

Due to Verizon Hall's acoustic quirks, Chang's forthright tone and solid musical insights were most vividly heard when he was positioned at the rear of the orchestra. Whether or not that was the intended effect, Chang was more than ready for his close-up.