New York Philharmonic's "New York Fourth," at Avery Fisher The New York Philharmonic has resisted the lure of symphonic pops concerts, but it flirts with them in its Summertime Classics programs. With the British conductor Bramwell Tovey presiding, the orchestra explores the lighter side of the symphonic repertory, introduced by Mr. Tovey with a chatty combination of informative commentary and one-liners, some of which have attained chestnut status (quips about latecomers as they stream in, for example). This year's Summertime Classics run is brief - just two programs, played three times each. The first, "A New York Fourth," is an Independence Day celebration that had the first of three performances at Avery Fisher Hall on Tuesday evening. The second, devoted to Tchaikovsky, starts Friday. "A New York Fourth" is really two programs yoked together, with theater and film music by Bernstein and Gershwin in the first half, and a mixed bag of jazz standards, patriotic tunes and marches - in which the Philharmonic was joined by the Hellcats and Jazz Knights of the West Point Band - after intermission. A brash, brassy evocation of New York in the 1940s opened the program by way of Bernstein's Three Dance Episodes from "On the Town," with the Philharmonic players getting in touch with their inner jazz musicians in the bump and grind of "Times Square: 1944." Tracy Dahl, the soprano, rounded out the Bernstein set with a fiery account of Cunégonde's showpiece aria, "Glitter and Be Gay." The orchestra's suave rendering of the "Walking the Dog" Promenade from "Shall We Dance" introduced the Gershwin group, in which Ms. Dahl gave stylish, sharply articulated accounts of "The Man I Love," "They Can't Take That Away from Me," "A Foggy Day (in London Town) " and "Fascinating Rhythm." Ms. Dahl used a hand microphone that, on evidence from "Glitter and Be Gay," seemed unnecessary. Mr. Tovey conducted from the piano, adding subtle musical asides - a hint of "Tea for Two" on the line "the way you sip your tea" in "They Can't Take That Away from Me," for example - and improvisational flourishes. Early in the concert Mr. Tovey apologized on behalf of his country for making the American Revolution necessary, a joke he has used before. But he slipped a touch of British music into the program's second half with the last-minute addition of Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" March No. It was not listed on the program. And though Sousa's "Liberty Bell" is, well, Sousa, many listeners will know it as the theme of the 1970s British comedy show, Monty Python's Flying Circus. Mostly, though, the West Pointers dominated this part of the program, and if they were not as magnificently polished as last year's guest ensemble, the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, the Hellcats offered a fine brass and percussion display. The Jazz Knights turned out an appealing set of big band pieces, notably Glenn Miller's "In the Mood." Mr. Tovey closed the program with a rousing, freewheeling performance, by all three ensembles, of Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever," which was repeated as an encore, this time led by the West Point Band's conductor, Lt. Col. Jim Keene. The program is repeated Thursday evening at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center; (212) 875-5656, nyphil.org.