SAME-DAY REVIEW: L.A. Philharmonic all-Mozart concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
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Los Angeles Philharmonic; Bernard Labadie, conductor
Mozart: Chaconne from Idomeneo ballet music; Piano Concerto No. 27, K. 595 (Benedetto Lupo, pianist); Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter)
Friday, December 16 2011 • Walt Disney Concert Hall
Next concerts: Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday at 2 p.m.
Information: www.laphil.com
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If you’re fed up with holiday shopping, Jingle Bell Rock and fake reindeer in this increasingly commercialized season, the Los Angeles Philharmonic is offering a perfect antidote in Walt Disney Concert Hall this weekend (and if you need more holiday music, the Phil is presenting organist David Higgs tonight at 8 p.m. in Disney Hall — see the hemidemisemiquaver note below — along with few other holiday programs).

This morning in the first of three concerts, Québec native and resident Bernard Labadie led an all-Mozart program that was notable for the orchestra’s splendid playing, Labadie’s exuberant conducting, and a sensitive solo turn by pianist Benedetto Lupo. Of course, you couldn’t totally escape the holiday spirit; fake stars are hanging from the Disney Hall ceiling to remind you what month it is.

The 48-year-old Labadie, founder and music director of Les Violons du Roy and La Chapelle de Québec, is known as a Mozart specialist and it was easy to see why from this program. His conducting style is exuberantly engaging, he has plenty to say about the three works on the program (two of which are ultra-familiar) and he had a chamber-sized orchestra (less than 50 players) executing with precision and panache — that’s just fine from my perspective.

Labadie seated the orchestra somewhat unusually. The violins were divided left and right but the basses were back right and the violas were center left, with the cellos bunched in the middle and several rows deep, which had the effect of moving the wind section (there are no clarinets in the three pieces) farther back onstage. The effect was to accentuate the strings a little more than usual but the different look was interesting to my eyes.

The program opened with the morning’s rarity: Chaconne from the ballet music from Mozart’s opera, Ideomeo, using an ending that Labadie prepared to make it a stand-alone piece. The performance alternated between sprightly and elegant, elements that would recur in the other two pieces on the program. Labadie apparently likes to emphasize dynamic contrasts in his Mozart and this Chaconne (which, as Dennis Bade noted in an excellent program, note isn’t really a Chaconne) had plenty of those.

Both the Piano Concertos, K. 595 and the Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter) were begun in 1788, but while the symphony — Mozart’s last — was completed in a whirlwind (along with Nos. 39 and 40), the piano concerto (commonly listed as No. 27) took three years to finish. It was his final piano concerto, although not his final concerto (the Clarinet Concerto would come later) and it’s more contemplative than many of Mozart’s piano concerti.

Lupo invested a sense of calm in his performance, using great care to achieve elegance throughout the three movements. Labadie also was deeply involved with the accompaniment, shaping phrases with detail throughout the performance, and the orchestra responded lovingly. There was a sublime moment in the second movement when a line played by Principal Oboe Ariana Ghez emerged delicately from the orchestral fiber and seemed to hang forever in the air — it was pure magic.

After intermission, Labadie and Co. offered a robust reading of the Jupiter Symphony, notable for rhythmic precision and the many dynamic contrasts of which Labadie is obviously fond. Principal Flute David Buck added sparkle with many of his lines. Overall, it was a thoroughly satisfying conclusion to a fine concert on a crystal-clear December day — quite a contrast to the dramatic thunder and lightning storm of the previous afternoon.
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Hemidemisemiquavers:
• On Friday morning, the musicians dress down a little (not “Casual Friday” style, but the men wear dark suits and ties). Labadie took the opportunity to wear a white shirt with no tie at all; comfort obviously prevailed (good for him).
• Tonight’s organ concert has plenty of holiday music but Higgs will play the Finale from Vierne’s Symphony No. 1, Liszt’s Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H, and a splashy arrangement of Joy to the World by Craig Phillips (organist/music director at All Saints Church, Beverly Hills). Among other things, Hill will sing the Alleluia from Mozart’s Exsultate Jubileo and Adolphe Adam’s O Holy Night. Information: www.laphil.com
• The Mozart programs are the final LAPO concerts for 2011. The orchestra returns Jan. 5, 6, 7 and 8 when former LAPO Associate Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya leads Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 (Organ) and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist. Information: www.laphil.com
• The orchestra’s “Mahler Project” begins Jan. 13 with Gustavo Dudamel returning home to lead Symphony No. 4 and Songs of a Wayfarer. Information: www.laphil.com
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(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.