Robert D. Thomas/Class Act

February 02, 2012

Five-Spot: What caught my eye on February 2, 2012

Posted at 07:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: Gustavo Dudamel, John Weaver, Kimo Furumoto, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pasadena Presbyterian Church, Rio Hondo Symphony, Sasha Cooke, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, The Colburn Orchestra, Yehuda Gilad

February 01, 2012

News and links: Surfing the Web

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News

• Upcoming seasons
I always find it interesting to look at upcoming schedules and ferret out some clues as to what local ensembles will be up to next season.
— Gustavo Dudamel will be conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic on May 24 at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall as part of the Orange County Philharmonic’s 2012-2013 season (LINK). The program includes Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major, K. 297b and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5 in D major, Op. 107 (Reformation) so I presume those two works will show up at the end of the upcoming Disney Hall season. The opening piece is labeled TBD. (LINK)

— Dudamel and the LAPO will be appearing on the “Great Performers” series at New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The March 27 concert will be the New York premiere of John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, which will get its first performances May 31-June 3 at Disney Hall (the fact that it’s being listed as the “NY premiere” would seem to indicate that the oratorio is going to be performed on a tour that includes more than the Big Apple). The March 28 NY concert includes Zipangu by Québec composer Claude Vivier, Debussy’s La Mer, and the 1945 version of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, so you can expect to see those on the Disney Hall schedule as well. (LINK)

We’ll get fuller details next week when the Phil’s 2012-2013 season is due to be released.

— Dudamel will also be appearing on the upcoming Carnegie Hall season, leading his Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela in two Latin America-themed concerts (LINK). Some of the music has been performed by the L.A. Phil in recent seasons; some of it may show up this year, as well.

• Los Angeles Opera names Grant Gershon Resident Conductor
LAO’s 2012-2013 season is due to be released imminently but this week it announced that Gershon been elevated to this new post beginning July 1 and continuing through the next two seasons.

Gershon, who is also music director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, has been LAO’s associate conductor since 2007. He’s the first person to hold the resident conductor post since Randall Behr in 1985. In addition to conducting one of the 2012-2013 productions, Gershon will work more closely with General Director Plácido Domingo and Music Director James Conlon in planning future seasons. Gershon conducted the world premiere of Daniel Catán’s Il Postino last season and has also led productions at Santa Fe Opera.
___________

(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

Posted at 09:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: Grant Gershon, Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic

January 29, 2012

OVERNIGHT REVIEW: Musica Angelica at AT&T Center Theatre

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
__________

Musica Angelica; Martin Hasselböck, conductor
Dame Emma Kirkby, soprano; Daniel Taylor, counter tenor
Pergolesi/Bach: Stabat Mater; music by Handel
Saturday, January 28, 2012 • AT&T Center Theatre
Next performance: Today at 3 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, Santa Monica
Information: www.musicaangelica.org
__________

During the past 19 years, Musica Angelica has gained widespread renown as a period-instrument ensemble (i.e., its members play Baroque and other early music on instruments that are either original to the time or replicas of same). In addition to its own series, the group has made national and international tours and recordings. On March 31 and April 1, the full orchestra will accompany the Los Angeles Master Chorale in performances of Bach’s St. John Passion at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Last night a sextet of MA musicians presented a stylishly played program of music by Handel and Bach (the latter by the way of Pergolesi). The evening also marked the MA debut of British soprano Dame Emma Kirkby and at the same time introduced to Southern California a new performing venue: the AT&T Center Theatre.

The 500-seat auditorium was once a VIP screening room for films of United Artists when that company was owned by Transamerica Corporation (the office tower in which it is housed was the home of Occidental Life and other subsidiaries of the conglomerate better known for its pyramid-shaped headquarters in San Francisco). Photos of old United Artist theaters are in the performing hall’s entryway.

In the early 1980's, recounts KUSC host Gail Eichenthal, Sheila Tepper created the Dame Myra Hess Concerts in this hall, which aired live on KUSC Wednesdays at noon. Topper showcased up and coming young instrumentalists; the audience consisted largely of office workers.

In 2010, KUSC joined several USC departments that now occupy the office and eventually convinced the building’s owners to make some acoustical renovations (most importantly the addition of a shell) that would turn the auditorium a viable concert hall. Last night was the first performance since those alterations; KUSC hosted the evening.

From seats in the middle of the hall for the first half and the back of the hall for the second, the sound carried well (carpet on the floor does dampen the resonance). Kirkby, countertenor Daniel Taylor and six accompanying instrumentalists were clearly heard throughout the performance.

Both Kirkby, who was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2007 and received the Queen’s Medal for Music last June, and Taylor, who made his MA debut last year after a significant list of credits in England, have long and distinguished careers in the field of early music and they affirmed those credentials last night.

The first half featured arias and duets from Handel’s Alceste, Solomon and Judas Maccabeus. Kirkby delivered clean, nicely oramented lines and Taylor blended skillfully during his contributions. Music Director Martin Hasselböck on harpsichord led a sextet of instrumentalists — Ila Korol and Cynthia Roberts, violins; Robert Diggins, viola; Ezra Seltzer, violoncello; and Curtis Daily, bass — that accompanied the singers sensitively and, on their own, offered spritely performances of Handel’s Concerto Grosso in B-flat major, Op. 6, No. 7, HWV 325, and Trio Sonata in G major, Op. 2, No. 6, HWB 391.

After intermission, the entire ensemble presented Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater — except that it wasn’t. Instead, Hasselböck used the version that Johann Sebastian Bach refashioned near the end of his life. A Stabat Mater being a no-go at Bach’s German Lutheran church, he grafted a paraphrase of Psalm 51 onto Pergolesi’s music, which Bach reordered to suit the new text and added a new viola part to the score, among other changes.

The resulting work (37 minutes last night) maintained the Stabat Mater’s format of 20 couplets but Bach placed them into several larger sections that were sumptuously sung by Kirkby and Taylor. Each of the singers got two solo portions and the others were duets. Having warmed up and discovered some of the intricacies of the new hall, Kirkby and Taylor both conveyed the texts expressively and sang with delicate point and florid ornamentation. The ensemble (with Hasselböck playing a positiv organ), again accompanied sensitively.

The group encored with a poignant rendition of a duet from the second act of Handel’s Theodora.
___________

Hemidemisemiquavers:
• Although the singers projected adequately, I would have welcomed printed texts for the Handel portions (the German texts for the Bach were printed, along with translations).
• The hall’s management created a welcoming atmosphere for concertgoers. Signage was plentiful and security officers were polite and helpful both coming and going. There was also plenty of inexpensive parking available.
• Musica Angelica will return to the AT&T Center Theatre on Feb. 18 for a selection of Bach Wedding Cantatas. That program will repeat the next afternoon at First Pres., Santa Monica. Information: www.musicaangelica.org
___________

(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

Posted at 07:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: Dame Emma Kirkby, Daniel Taylor, KUSC, Martin Hasselböck, Musica Angelica

January 28, 2012

STORY AND LINK: OC Philharmonic Society announces 2012-2013 season

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News

As we into February, 2012-2013 classical music season schedules will begin to appear. First out of the box is the Orange County Philharmonic Society, which will present 12 concerts and recitals throughout Orange County during its upcoming season.

The current season has an unusually large number of significant visiting orchestras — still to come are the Chicago Symphony, led by Riccardo Muti, on Feb. 17; Baltimore Symphony (Marin Alsop) on March 28; Cleveland Orchestra (Franz Welser-Möst) on April 17; Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Joshua Bell) on April 26; Los Angeles Philharmonic (Rafael Frubeck du Burgos) on April 28; and New York Philharmonic (Alan Gilbert) on May 8.

The 2012-2013 orchestral lineup begins with Esa-Pekka Salonen leading the London Philharmonia on Nov. 14 in performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique (which seems like an excess of riches). Other orchestras playing next season are:
• Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir, led by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, performing Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis on Nov. 19 and Symphony No. 9 on Nov. 20;
• BBC Concert Orchestra (Keith Lockhart) in a program of 20th century British music on Feb. 12;
• St. Louis Symphony (David Robertson) on March 18; and
• Los Angeles Philharmonic (Gustavo Dudamel) on May 24.

Recitalists include pianist Louis Lortie, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman.

All of the orchestra concerts and some of the recitals will be played at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, but other recitals will be played at the Irvine Barclay Theatre and the new Soka Performing Arts Center in Aliso Viejo.

Details: www.philharmonicsociety.org
___________

(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

Posted at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

OVERNIGHT REVIEW: Gustavo Dudamel and L.A. Philharmonic play Mahler's Symphony No. 6 at Walt Disney Concert Hall

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
__________

Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Mahler: Symphony No. 6
Friday, January 27, 2012 • Walt Disney Concert Hall
Next performances: Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 p.m.
Information: www.laphil.com
__________

Of all of Mahler’s 9.5 symphonies (10.5, if you count Das Lied von der Erde as a symphony), No. 6 is probably the strangest (although some might vote for No. 7). At a glance the 6th looks like a traditional format — four movements with titles that read pretty much like standard symphonic fare — but when you hear it there’s not much traditional about how it plays out. The contrasts are formidable: lyrical one moment, then grotesque, then grandiose. It moves from weird to wonderful and back over 87 minutes (last night).

In some ways, Symphony No. 6 looks backward towards the 19th century of Brahms, Wagner and Richard Strauss; it also looks forward to what would come, including the atonal music of Schoenberg, Berg and Webern, to the 20th and even the 21st centuries. During his preconcert lecture, Asadour Santourian quoted Mahler as saying that to understand the sixth symphony, you have to know the other five, so hearing it within the context of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s “Mahler Project” certainly fulfilled that requirement for many people. Nonetheless, I have never completely grasped the piece and still don't, even after a sweeping performance by Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic last night.

Among the work’s intriguing aspects:
• Mahler began the piece in the summer of 1903, one of the happiest times of his life personally and professionally. Yet in the fourth movement he wrote of the downfall of his “hero” (and/or of himself) by inserting three massive hammer blows that were, as he later wrote, “on whom [the hero] falls three blows of fate, the last of which fells him as a tree is felled.”

When he revised the work, Mahler omitted the third hammer blow as being too agonizing — some conductors play the work with two hammer blows, others with three (Dudamel reportedly rehearsed it with three yesterday morning but in last night’s performance omitted the third).

Incidentally, Mahler’s hammer is not a stick beating on a bass drum or timpani. The Phil’s mallet looks like it was pilfered from the “ring the bell” game at a carnival and it was pounded on a wooden box that measured about four feet long by four feet high and two feet deep — the percussionist had to mount steps to whack the top of the box.

• Mahler originally wrote the Scherzo as the second movement, then later reversed its order with the Andante. Throughout the subsequent century, conductors have performed the symphony following one order or the other. Last night’s printed program called for the LAPO perform it with scherzo followed by andante, Dudamel reversed the order and management added a slip sheet into the program to announce the change.

• The hammer is just one of a large number of percussion instruments that Mahler employs during the symphony. The list includes snare drum, tam-tam, triangle, xylophone, glockenspiel, two sets of cowbells (one onstage, the other offstage), offstage bells, two sets of timpani, and three pair of giant cymbals that at one point are played together. The work is also scored for two harps and two celestas.

As he has done throughout the cycle, Dudamel conducted without a score, but unlike other performances, this one emphasized propulsive energy rather than languid tempos. The Philharmonic was again in top form throughout the evening. For all of the massive fortissimo outbursts, what stood out for me was the Andante with luscious string sounds interspersed with exquisite solo work from Ariana Ghez, oboe; Carolyn Hove, English horn, Michelle Zukovsky, clarinet; and Andrew Bain, French horn.
___________

Hemidemisemiquavers:
• British author and columnist Normal Lebrech provides the preconcert lecture tonight and tomorrow. If his crowds approach those at his lectures on Tuesday and Thursday, plan on arriving early as those crowds in BP Hall were overflowing.
• The Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela continues the Mahler cycle on Tuesday with Symphony No. 7. The Phil returns next Friday and Sunday (Feb. 3 and 5) with Symphony No. 9 and both ensembles join eight soloists and more than 800 choristers at the Shrine Auditorium on Feb. 4 for Symphony No. 8 (Symphony of a Thousand).
___________

(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

Posted at 08:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Mahler Project, Walt Disney Concert Hall

January 27, 2012

OVERNIGHT REVIEW: Taking the 5th — Gustavo Dudamel and the SBOV at Walt Disney Concert Hall

By Robert D. Thomas Music Critic Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News

Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Thursday, January 26, 2012 • Walt Disney Concert Hall
Next concerts:
Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.
Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Mahler: Symphony No. 6
Information: www.laphil.com

As I was riding the Gold Line home from last night’s concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall, I contemplated the difference in audience reaction to the concerts of “The Mahler Project” played by the Los Angeles Philharmonic as opposed to those played by the Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. Both ensembles have received standing ovations for their performances, but there are LA Phil ovations and then there are those for the Bolivár “kids.”

It’s not that the Bolivárs have played better than the Phil — close, but not better. Moreover, Gustavo Dudamel (who celebrated his 31st birthday last night) has conducted every program from memory. The hall has been packed for each concert, although there were a few more empty seats last night than for Sunday and Tuesday. Nonetheless, there’s an excitement level to the reaction to the Bolivárs that palpably exceeds that accorded the Phil.

Part of the difference lies in the symphonies played. The Phil opened two weeks ago with No. 4, the sunniest, shortest and least dramatic of Mahler’s completed symphonic output. Last weekend, it came back with No. 1 and the Adagio from No. 10, and since the Thursday and Saturday program concluded with the somber Adagio, that surely dampened the audience’s enthusiasm. Although the “Casual Friday” concert was just Symphony No. 1 and did receive a thunderous ovation, the excitement level was diluted somewhat by the knowledge that a Q&A session (and/or drinks with the orchestra members) was following.

By contrast, the Bolivárs have played three of the five symphonies with the loudest, most pulsating endings. On Tuesday, they get No. 7 (also with a big finale) and they’ll be part of the combined orchestra that plays No. 8, the other work that fits this description.

Another rationale for the difference in reaction is size. The Bolivárs are putting about 175 players on stage each night, about 65 more than the Phil for their performances (the LAPO will play Symphony No. 6 tonight, tomorrow and Sunday and No. 9 on Feb. 3 and 5 to conclude the cycle). The 96 Bolivár string players equal what would be a large orchestra for almost anything except Mahler. Size isn’t everything but when the Bolivárs are playing full force, they can, indeed, make a mighty noise as we have heard to conclude their three programs, and most in the audiences react.

Even with all the caveats, the excitement level for the Bolivár concerts has been noticeably high than for the Phil. It was also that way in 2007 when the “kids” made their Disney Hall debut in two concerts that were among the most exciting I’ve ever attended. Excitement isn’t everything in a concert, but once again this year it’s been noticeable.

Symphony No. 5 was the first symphony Mahler wrote without a specific programmatic theme and the first since Symphony No. 1 to eschew soloists or a chorus. The work was begun in 1901 shortly after Mahler nearly died from an a hemorrhage that program annotator Herbert Glass called “intestinal” and preconcert lecturer Norman Lebrecht placed slightly lower on Mahler’s body. Like nearly all of Mahler’s symphonies, this one includes — indeed, in this case, begins with — a funeral march but it also includes a love poem to his bride, the famous Adagietto for strings that Luchino Visconti would appropriate 70 years later as the theme music for the movie Death in Venice.

Mahler 5 is also a piece with which Dudamel and the Bolivárs are closely identified. They played it on their opening Disney Hall concert in 2007 (and on their subsequent cross-country tour) and later recorded it.

Last night was the most cohesive collaboration between Dudamel and his youthful colleagues during this cycle and the orchestra’s playing was exemplary. The entire brass section, led by the principal trumpet and principal horn players, was stunning throughout the performance (the Bolivárs don’t provide principals lists but since their listing in the program isn’t alphabetical, I’ll take a guess that these two were Tomás Medina and Rafael Payare — they eminently deserve to be singled out). The strings played with a rich, unified sound and amazing rhythmic precision (especially considering their numbers); not only do these folks wield their bows in unison, they also sway in unison.

As he has done in other performances during this cycle Dudamel continues to emphasize luxuriant tempos. In both the third and fifth movements, he occasionally got a little too cutesy in his moments of elasticity but overall this was a smartly paced 74-minute performance that sustained tension admirably. The Adagietto glided along with effortless ease and the final movement was less frenetic than what shows up on the recording or what I remember from the concert four-plus years ago.

Untimately, that adds up to a level of increased maturity that holds a great deal of promise for succeeding Dudamel years (presumably many of them) in Los Angeles. At the same time, may he never lose the sense of excitement that continues to pour out of all of these programs.

Hemidemisemiquavers:
• Although it’s not quite as noticeable as the Vienna Philharmonic, a colleague seated next to me noted that the Bolivárs had just 24 women in the 175 players who were on stage last night, and most of those are in the string sections. Just two of the 32 brass players were female and none of the percussionists.
• In his preconcert lecture before Symphony No. 1, Gilbert Kaplan said that he has heard the Adagietto played in as little as eight minutes and as long as 15. Dudamel was in the middle: 11 minutes.
• Lebrech’s lecture last night was again insightful. He’s on tap for the lectures on tomorrow and Sunday — arrive early; the crowds have been overflow. Asadour Santourian, Vice President for Artistic Administration and Artistic Advisor for the Aspen Music Festival, is listed as giving the lecture tonight.
___________

(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

Posted at 07:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, The Mahler Project, Walt Disney Concert Hall

January 26, 2012

Five-Spot: What caught my eye on January 26, 2012

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
__________

Each Thursday morning, I list five events that pique my interest, including (ideally) at least one with free admission (or, at a minimum, inexpensive tickets). Here’s today’s grouping:
__________

• Tonight at 8 p.m. at Walt Disney Concert Hall
Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
This was one of the works with which Gustavo Dudamel introduced Los Angeles to this dynamic orchestra in 2007. Thus, part of the intrigue will be to see what changes have occurred in Dudamel’s interpretation and in the orchestra’s playing. The Bolivárs conclude their individual portion of the cycle on Tuesday with Symphony No. 7 Information: www.laphil.com

• Tonight at 8 p.m. at Zipper Hall (The Colburn School)
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s Baroque Conversations
LACO begins its season of baroque chamber-music programs when Principal Oboist Alan Vogel leads five of his colleagues and soprano Elissa Johnston in a program of music by J.S. Bach and Heinrich Ignaz Franz Bieber. Information: www.laco.org

• Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.
Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Mahler: Symphony No. 6
The Phil swings back into action with what is perhaps the darkest of Mahler’s symphonies. Information: www.laphil.com

• Saturday at 8 p.m. at AT&T Center Theatre, Los Angeles
Sunday at 3 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, Santa Monica
Musica Angelica: Pergolesi/Bach: Stabat Mater
Although Giovanni Pergolesi set a version of Stabat Mater, the work is at least as well known through its German edition when J.S. Bach put different German text atop Pergolesi’s music (composers during that time were freer about “borrowing” music both from themselves and others). Martin Hasselböck will lead his top-notch period-instrument ensemble along with soloists Dame Emma Kirkby, soprano, and countertenor Daniel Taylor. Sacred arias by Bach and Handel will fill out the program.

The Saturday performance will be the group’s first time in the AT&T Center Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Old-timers will recognize this as the old Transamerica Life headquarters. Radio station KUSC 95.1 FM recently moved to the AT&T Center. Originally used as a conference hall, the performing space reportedly has been acoustically retrofitted by KUSC to accommodate small- and medium-size musical groups.

Information: www.musicaangelica.org

• Sunday at 4 p.m. at Neighborhood Church, Pasadena
Pacific Serenades
For more than a quarter-century, Pacific Serenades has been known for (a) beginning its season after the New Year holiday and (b) commissioning new works. The inaugural concert of its 2012 season will feature its 103rd commissioned work: the world premiere of Different Lanes for string quartet and iPad by Los Angeles native and Emmy-award winning composer Laura Karpman (the title refers to five L.A. freeways) The program will also include Beethoven’s String Quartet in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3, and Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello (2001).

• Information: www.pacser.org

And the weekend’s “free admission” program …

• Friday at 8 p.m. at First Church of the Nazarene, Pasadena
Pasadena Community Orchestra; Alan Reinecke, conductor
PCO opens its 28th season with a program of Smetna’s Sarka (from Ma Vlast), Mozart’s Symphony No. 39, and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, with Joyce Pan as soloist. Pan is a member of the orchestra’s violin section; in her “other” life, she’s a technical director for Dreamworks Animation. Information: www.pcomusic.org

• OPERA NOTES
Both Long Beach Opera and San Diego Opera open their seasons this weekend. Long Beach presents Maria de Buenos Aires by Astor Pizzola and Horacio Ferrer on Sunday at 2 p.m. and Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. at The Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro. Information: www.longbeachopera.org

San Diego Opera begins with Richard Strauss’ Salome, which opens Saturday at 7 p.m. and also plays Tuesday at 7 p.m., Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. Lise Lindstrom sings the title role. Information: www.sdopera.com
___________

(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

Posted at 08:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: AT&T Center Theatre, Dame Emma Kirkby, Daniel Taylor, Gustavo Dudamel, Laura Karpman, Lise Lindstrom, Long Beach Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Musica Angelica, Pacific Serenades, Pasadena Community Orchestra, San Diego Opera, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, The Mahler Project

January 25, 2012

OVERNIGHT REVIEW: 3rd and short: Dudamel and the Bolivars at Walt Disney Concert Hall

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
__________

Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Mahler: Symphony No. 3
Tuesday, January 24 13, 2012 • Walt Disney Concert Hall
Next performance:
Mahler: Symphony No. 5; Dudamel and SBSOV
Tomorrow at 8 p.m.
Information: www.laphil.com
__________

When I’m wearing my music critic hat, I try hard not to compare performances. Some critics do — it’s just not my style. Inevitably, of course, what I’ve heard in the past will influence my feelings about how a piece should sound but when I’m reviewing a concert, I try not to think, “Gosh, that doesn’t sound like how Giulini, Salonen, Bernstein, etc. conducted it.” Instead, I try to let each performance stand on its own.

However, there are a couple of works for which it’s very hard to block out memory and one of those is Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. One of my most indelible musical experiences in nearly 60 years of attending concerts was the first time I heard Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic play Mahler’s third in the late 1970s. For many years, I’ve said that if I had one piece to listen to while I am dying, it would be Mehta and the Phil playing the finale of this monumental work.

Last night at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela came very, very close to matching that standard. Gustavo Dudamel equaled it.

Symphony No. 3 is Mahler’s longest work: 104 minutes last night — it seemed shorter — in six movements. Mahler originally planned seven movements but later decided that enough was enough (even for him), and the seventh section became the finale of Symphony No. 4, instead.

Nonetheless, No. 3 is an incredibly complex work. In his program note, John Mangum quoted Mahler writing, “It’s not really appropriate to call it a symphony, for it doesn’t stick to the traditional form at all. But ‘symphony’ means to me building a world with all the resources of the available techniques.” Later he said to Jean Sibelius, “The symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything.” Mahler’s early descriptive titles (which he later discarded) displayed the breadth of his thinking: Summer marches in, What the flowers in the meadow tell me, etc.

Mahler scored the piece for an oversized orchestra and the Bolivars surely exceeded those expectations. Mark Swed, in his Los Angeles Times review, said the ensemble numbered about 175 on Sunday and it didn’t look any smaller last night. There were also 39 women of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, 40 members of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotjn … and the camera operator seated in the orchestra focusing on Dudamel for the off-stage flügelhorn player in the third movement (that must be quite a seat from a sound point of view).

As he has done throughout “The Mahler Project,” Dudamel conducted without a score — as noted in my review of Sunday’s performance of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, that’s not unprecedented but that doesn’t make it any less amazing. He continues to be a joy to watch, his exuberant face and expressive gestures communicating volumes to his musicians. In nearly every concert, Dudamel always appears to be throughly enjoying himself and last night was no exception, even though he seemed to be suffering from a head cold. Any performance of Symphony No. 3 is an endurance contest for all concerned: instrumentalists, singers, conductor and audience. Last night was no different but was, nonetheless, spellbinding.

In conducting Symphonies 4, 1, 2 and the Adagio from No. 10, Dudamel has taken quite broad tempos most of the time, but last night was different, at least in the first two movements. The 96 string players (that number would equal the entire L.A. Phil for most of its concerts) were remarkably precise in the opening movement (which lasted 33 minutes last night) and the entire brass section was at its burnished best. The second movement was a model of melding propulsion and lyricism, while the third movement was the only time when tempos seemed to flag a bit. However, the flugelhorn solo, paired with the first trumpeter, was exemplary, a couple of bobbles notwithstanding (the Bolivars don’t provide principal lists so I can’t tell you who each was).

Stotijn sang the fourth-movement text, O Mensch! Gib Acht! (O Man, Take Heed), poignantly, and her fifth movement, Armer Kinder Bettlerlied (Poor Children’s Begging Song), with rich ardor. The Master Chorale women added lustrous accompaniment and the L.A. Children’s Chorus bimm-bammed angelically.

All of that is prologue — in this case, 64 minutes worth — for the final movement, which Mahler originally called What love tells me and eventually marked Langsam: Ruhevoli; Empfunden (Slow: Peaceful; With feeling). Among the problems facing the conductor in this 40-minute finale are investing the movement with the proper gravitas without letting it sink beneath its own weight. Moreover, there are three climaxes to the movement, so the conductor has to manage all of that and leave the most glorious measures to the end.

Dudamel let it all unfold unhurriedly. If the orchestra seemed midway through the movement to be wearying a tad, it rallied beautifully to finish on a majestically glorious fortissimo, those final timpani shots ringing out like rifle shots, and Dudamel concluded the work not with a furious cutoff but with a graceful Mehta-like upsweep.

Now all they have to do in less than 48 hours is come back and play Symphony No. 5, which — at about 75 minutes or so — will seem like an overture. I don’t know how you celebrate your birthdays but Dudamel will mark his (No. 31) by conducting Mahler’s fifth.
___________

Hemidemisemiquavers:
• An overflow crowd showed up for Norman Lebrecht’s preconcert lecture; if you’re planning on coming to Thursday’s lecture (which, at this point, is scheduled for BP Hall, not the main auditorium), arrive early. Lebrecht’s concept of Mahler in this symphony as a pleader for social justice was provocative, if a bit unwieldy in its presentation.
• Mahler called for a long pause after the first movement; Dudamel took the opportunity to duck offstage for a few seconds.
• The weekend’s concerts bring back the L.A. Phil playing Symphony No. 6.
___________

(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

Posted at 08:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, The Mahler Project, Walt Disney Concert Hall

January 24, 2012

STORY AND LINKS: 2012 Hollywood Bowl season announced

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News

Reflecting the economic reality of ticket sales, the 2012 Hollywood Bowl season, officially announced today, continues to add non-classical programs to what will again be a 14-week season. The Cahuenga Pass amphitheatre’s 91st season begins June 22 with the annual Hollywood Bowl of Fame induction concert and concludes Sept. 22 with the now-traditional Sing-A-Long Sound of Music screening of the iconic film.

All but one of the Friday-Saturday programs are in the non-classical category (the exception is the annual “Tchaikovsky Spectacular” programs on Sept. 7 and 8) and just two of the Sunday concerts are classically oriented, both conducted by LA Phil Music Director Gustavo Dudamel.

There’s nothing nefarious about this slow creep. Proceeds from Bowl ticket sales account for a significant portion of the Phil’s annual income stream and “pops” fare sells better than classical. This year’s non-classical concerts include jazz, world music, movie music and Broadway shows and other popular genres; among the artists are Herbie Hancock, Barry Manilow, and Liza Minnelli. Along with The Sound of Music, the movie evenings include a tribute to Paramount Pictures’ 100th anniversary and an program of music from Pixar films (e.g., Toy Story).

The 10-week classical season of Tuesday and Thursday concerts begins July 10 and has several big-name soloists on the agenda. As he did last summer, Dudamel will conduct two weeks of concerts. The last two people to hold the title of Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl — Leonard Slatkin and Bramwell Tovey — will lead concerts along with the Phil’s Resident Conductor, Lionel Bringuier.

Returning guest maestros will be Ludovic Morlot, Rafael Frubeck de Burgos, Stéphane Denève, and Nicholas McGegan. The one debut conductor is 28-year-old Krysztof Urbanski, who began this season as music director of the Indianapolis Symphony.

Dudamel will reprise his “Americas and the Americans” concept that was part of his first Walt Disney Concert Hall season in 2010 with concerts on Aug. 14 and 16. Thomas Wilkins, principal guest conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and the HBO will appear as part of this survey on Aug. 17 and 18 and Dudamel will conclude the “festival” and his two-week Bowl stint on Sunday, Aug. 19, leading the Phil in a concert that will feature Plácido Domingo as soloist.

The week before, Dudamel will lead the Phil on Aug. 7 in a program of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 and Schumann’s Cello Concerto, with Yo-Yo Ma as soloist. The Aug. 9 concert will pair Tchaikovsky’s 4th and his first piano concerto with Yuja Wang as soloist. The Aug. 12 “Sunday Sunset” concert will be a concert performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto, with Željko Lučić singing the title role.

You can get the complete schedule HERE (when you click on an individual concert, you’ll see more details about each performance). There’s also a print icon at the top of the page.

New season subscription sales begin today (renewals were sent earlier); single tickets go on sale May 5. Season subscribers get first crack at the non-subscription concerts before tickets to the latter are offered to the general public. Information: 323/850-2000; www.hollywoodbowl.com

___________

(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

Posted at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: Gustavo Dudamel, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles Philharmonic

January 23, 2012

OVERNIGHT REVIEW: Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony at Walt Disney Concert Hall

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
__________

Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection)
Sunday, January 22, 2012 • Walt Disney Concert Hall
Next performance: Tomorrow at 8 p.m.
Mahler: Symphony No. 3; Dudamel and SBSOV
Information: www.laphil.com
__________

I doubt that words (at least my words) can adequately describe what happened last night at Walt Disney Concert Hall … which won’t prevent me from trying!

Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection) has a way of rendering listeners speechless. Part of it is the sheer audacity that one man could actually write such a monumental piece of music: 90 minutes (almost to the second last night), five movements dealing with death, resurrection and plenty in between. Six years transpired between the time Mahler began the piece and completed it. He struggled to find inspiration for every movement beyond the first. He didn’t find his way in the final movement until he attended the funeral of conductor Hans von Bulow.

Assembling the forces that Mahler called for is a huge undertaking for any organization. Among other things, the score calls for 10 (!) horns, 6 trumpets, 2 harps, organ, a large percussion section that includes three timpanists playing two sets of tympani, two soloists and a large chorus (last night 92 members of the Los Angeles Master Chorale).

For this performance — part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s “Mahler Project” — the Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela bulged the stage with more than 150 musicians, which included 12 basses (stretched to the back of the stage), 17 cellos and more violins and violas than I could count. The percussionists were so crammed together that the cymbals player had to be careful not to KO the bass drummer. In the midst of all of them was a cameraman focusing on Gustavo Dudamel transmitting to an offstage band that includes brass and timpani.

The SBSOV is the flagship ensemble of Venezuela’s “El Sistema” music education program (it used to be called the SB “Youth” SOV but many of the “youth” have stayed on to play as the orchestra has gained international renown during the past decade). Nonetheless, most of the musicians appeared to still be very young (the group’s bio says the ages are between 18 and 28).

Dudamel has been the group’s music director for 13 years (since age 18) and he clearly has a special relationship with the musicians. For one thing, his conducting style seems different with the SBSOV than with the LA Phil; the responses of the “kids” to his downbeats seemed almost delayed although in nearly all cases they were razor-sharp. The strings had a lean sound, the brass gleamed throughout the performance and the winds were striking. When playing all out, they could storm heaven (there’s lots of that in this symphony) but in tender moments they could achieve breathtaking pianissimos. Although not quite as polished as the Phil, this is an exemplary orchestra, especially considering the age of its members.

Conducting without a score (an amazing feat in itself, although he’s not the only conductor to do so), Dudamel began with stately tempos that began to broaden out as the second pass at the opening statement unfolded. At the end of the first movement, Dudamel ignored what program annotator John Henken says are Mahler’s “firm instructions to pause for at least five minutes before launching the Andante.” Dudamel waited two minutes, just long enough for latecomers to climb into their seats, the orchestra to retune, and the two soloists to come onstage.

Dudamel took the Andante, which is cast in the form of an Austrian Ländler (folk dance), deliberately in contrast to the third movement, which he led with a brisk, almost jaunty air. Mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn sang the fourth movement, Urlicht (Primal Light), with rich tones and great sensitivity, and her duet with the principal oboe was exquisite. The marvelously soft ending made the transition to the final movement all the more shattering.

Dudamel was at his most compelling leading the 40-minute-long final movement with its Gross Appell (Great Call) from offstage brass that eventually leads to the chorus, which sang their hushed opening lines, Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n (Rise again, yet rise again), while seated. Dudamel had all the men of the Master Chorale in the middle surrounded by the female sections and the resultant tone had a deeply rich ring to it. Soprano Miah Persson joined her radiant voice with Stotijn and, with the chorus now on its feet and the Disney Hall organ adding impressive heft, the finale was a majestic, glorious celebration of resurrection and eternal life.

In his erudite preconcert lecture, Gilbert Kaplan described Mahler as a conductor who demanded that his orchestras treat every performance as an unparalleled event, that everything be so compelling that the audience would leave walking on air. Dudamel and the musicians complied and the audience responded with a thunderous — and well deserved — standing ovation that lasted 10 minutes and would have gone on longer if Dudamel had not led the musicians off the stage. After all, in less than 48 hours, they will back for Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, which is even longer than the second!
___________

Hemidemisemiquavers:
• Although it’s cold and flu season (and there was occasional hacking to be heard) there were also many moments when the hall was so silent that even breathing was muted,; it’s part of what makes the Disney Hall acoustics so special.
• Kaplan’s hour-long preconcert lecture was well attended; there were many more people in the hall than for Friday night’s concert talk. It was obvious many had not attended the Symphony No. 1+10 concert lecture because Kaplan’s opening “Peanuts” cartoon and punch line that Peppermint Patty had been “Mahlered” got a big laugh (again). Although some of the material was “resurrected” from the earlier talk, this was another informative and well-delivered lecture, with good graphics and musical selections.
• Both Kaplan lectures had been open to those not attending the concerts but the Phil’s management could not say how many people took advantage of the offer.
___________

(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

Posted at 06:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: Christianne Stotijn, Gilbert Kaplan, Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Miah Persson, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, The Mahler Project