City Hall Theatre -- May 7 and 8.

*** The Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society put the `M' back into the BMDS with a triumphant flourish this weekend.

Under dynamic guest conductor Paul Hostetter, who is making his own considerable mark on the American musical scene, The Daylesford Sinfonia (which, admittedly, brought in 16 instrumentalists to supplement the 34-member core group), demonstrated that Bermuda boasts a high level of musicianship.

This, of course, is due in no small part to the contribution made to the Island's music scene by Lord Yehudi Menuhin, who died just two months ago. In acknowledgement of the Foundation named for him and the consequent elevation of string musicianship in Bermuda, these concerts were dedicated to his memory.

There is a sense that the New York-born musician would have delighted in this American Concert. The music of Aaron Copland and George Gershwin, so distinctively capturing the `New World' to which Antonin Dvorak paid tribute in his famous 9th symphony, has become synonymous with the emergence of the American signature on 20th century music.

Copland's `Fanfare for the Common Man' provided an impressive opening for the concert. Scored for brass and percussion, this short, dramatic work forms an integral part of the fabric of contemporary American music. One of ten composers commissioned to write fanfares during World War II, Copland made the point that `the common man' deserved his own fanfare since "it was he who was doing the dirty work in the war''.

Superbly supported by the brass and percussion section, Timothy Rhodes brought a solemn, almost spine-chilling quality to the solo trumpet's unequivocally soaring call for attention.

During the same period, Copland wrote the score for Agnes de Mille's ballet, `Rodeo', a work that would come to epitomise indigenous American dance as well as American music with its sparkling, free-form rhythms. The suite of four `Dance Episodes' also celebrates the common man -in this case, the cowboys, ranch and cowgirls who gather for thrills, spills, and some flirting at the weekly rodeo.

Hostetter, obviously relishing every note of this exuberantly mirthful score, produced an incredibly joyful performance from an orchestra that was quite undaunted by the intricately witty timing. Avoiding any labels of `folksiness' through its brilliant orchestration, the invigorating melodies of the opening `Buckaroo Holiday' lead to the more lyrical grace of the `Corral Nocturne' (in the ballet, the tomboyish and clumsy cow girl laments her love for the handsome chief wrangler). The `Saturday Night Waltz' brought a lovely fluidity from the strings - ably led by Diane Hamilton - finally bursting into the sparkling brilliance of the `Hoe-down'. Altogether, a masterful account of a work by the son of a Jewish Russian emigre who became the quintessential American composer.

From a similar background came the amazing George Gershwin who, although he early found fame and fortune in the world of popular song and the American musical, is equally revered for his classical music which is actually an esoteric blend of jazz and classical form. An intuitive genius, Gershwin's half-French, half-jazzy `An American in Paris' (1928) represents another watershed in American musical history.

Again, Hostetter who eschews the baton to conducts in an engagingly informal way, produced a near-miraculous sound from the orchestra as it performed this popular work: dreamily lyrical strings, brassy jazz riffs and lilting French `promenades' from the reeds combined in a wonderfully melodic and fluid account of this enduring work.

Dvorak, the Czech composer, belongs to the late 19th century, and arrived in America in 1892 (inspired, in part, reportedly, by the prospect of viewing Grand Central Station). The three years spent there had a profound effect on the history of American music, inspired as Dvorak was, compositionally, to honour his host country. The greatest result was his Symphony No. 9, known universally as `The New World'.

Reared in the folk tunes of what was then Bohemia, Dvorak's essentially nationalistic music reflects their wonderful dance rhythms and, in spite of his fascination with Negro melodies and Indian chants, the irrepressible Slavic `signature' keeps bubbling through.

Brahmsian in scale, this magnificent work was movingly performed by the Sinfonia, commencing with the understated, sonorous tones of the cellos and basses, and progressing through the dramatically authoritative first movement.

The largo of the second movement with its haunting and much-loved main theme (later `adopted' as the negro spiritual, `Goin' Home') develops into the boisterous third movement, molto vivace . Positively reverberating with rural splendour, the little folk tunes and dances keep bursting through, until the short, last movement culminates in trombonal explosions.

All the while, Hostetter coaxed rich tonal colouration and texture from all sections of the orchestra.

The capacity audience demanded an encore - and got another rousing rendition of the `Hoe-down' from `Rodeo'.

Bermuda is fortunate to have attracted a conductor of such calibre and the Daylesford Sinfonia certainly rose to the occasion in a demanding programme, confirming the exciting potential revealed in last year's inaugural Mozart concert.

PATRICIA CALNAN