After wrapping up its regular season a couple of weeks ago, the Rhode Island Philharmonic was back at Veterans Memorial Auditorium last night for a benefit gala with pianist André Watts, who roared through Beethoven’s popular Emperor concerto.

But before that, conductor Larry Rachleff led the orchestra in a crisp account of the Russlan and Ludmilla overture by Glinka, a rendition that let the cello section shine, and the Enigma Variations of Sir Edward Elgar, which was strung together handsomely.

The Philharmonic has in the last couple of years staged successful galas with the likes of Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma, true superstars. But the list of classical superstars is a short one, and Watts, 61, does not seem to have quite the draw of those two fellow players. About a third of the hall was empty.

But his playing was solid, even exciting at times.

Watts, who burst on the scene at 16 when Leonard Bernstein booked him for one of his televised Young Peoples Concerts, is best known for splashy romantic scores such as Rachmaninoff and Liszt. And his Emperor leaned more toward the romantic soul of the piece than its classical design.

There was a grandeur and sweep to his playing, a sort of muscular assertiveness that stopped just short of pounding. Watts tossed off the opening cadenzas in a majestic flourish, one that suffered in places from over-pedaling. But then he likes to go for the big lush line, and most of his playing reflected that.

It was hardly a nuanced performance. Instead, Watts charged through the Beethoven with an unflagging drive that let up only in the tender and introspective slow movement. From there he barreled into the rousing finale.

It might have been nice to find a little more charm and grace among the final pages of the score. This was often Beethoven in overdrive. But then the Emperor, the last and grandest of the five Beethovens, is a piece that can stand this kind of take-no-prisoners approach.

For more in the way of subtlety, you had to look to the Elgar Variations. The Enigma, the composer’s most popular large-scale composition, is actually a series of musical caricatures. Each of the 14 variations depicts a friend, whose identity is found in the initials and nicknames that precede the section.

While something of a puzzle, that is not the score’s real enigma, though. Elgar indicated that there is a hidden theme upon which all the variations are based but that is never stated. Guesses have ranged from Auld Lang Syne to Rule Britannia.

Rachleff, who conducted without a score, managed to shape the piece nicely, building to a glorious peak in the gushing Nimrod variation, one of Elgar’s most stately creations. And he brought out contrasts.

The brass sounded terrific in the 11th variation and the blazing 7th. And there was some nice work from the cellos, too, only underscoring the performance they gave in the Glinka, which is a bit trite, but just the kind of music you might expect for a gala.

cgray@projo.com