Robert D. Thomas/Class Act

REVIEW: Dudamel, Phil offer visual-laden "Das Lied von der Erd"

By Robert D. Thomas

Music Critic

Southern California News Group

Das Lied von der Erde is the most enigmatic of Gustav Mahler’s symphonic works. Worried about the fact that Beethoven died after completing his ninth symphony and Bruckner died while writing his ninth, Mahler instead called this work “A Symphony for Contralto, Tenor (or Baritone) and Orchestra” and gave it a title — which in English translates into The Song of the Earth.

Of course, after finishing the work in 1908 and not dying, he went on to write a work he labeled his Symphony No. 9 and, for good measure, fragments of a 10^th symphony, as well before he died in 1911.

Das Lied von der Erde is permeated with death due to several tragic occurrences in Mahler’s life at the time, including death of his elder daughter, Anna Maria. It is also, if you believe Yuval Sharon — who is in the midst of a three-year residency creating stage works for the Los Angeles Philharmonic — the opera that Mahler never wrote.

Sharon and Juan Carlos Zagal, founder and director of the Chilean ensemble Teatro Cinema, have set about to rectify that oversight with a fascinating staging of Das Lied as this weekend’s L.A. Phil concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Using a giant scrim above and behind the orchestra that integrates mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford and tenor Russell Thomas, Sharon and Zagal have fashioned the sort of opera that might have worked well for any of several Wagner operas.

Whether it was necessary or even desirable for Das Lied is another matter. The “glass half full” guy (which normally includes me) says the visuals ranged from interesting to fascinating. The “glass half empty” guy would note that the scrim muffled the two soloists, although Mumford overcame that hurdle more successfully than did Thomas.

When Dudamel and the Phil performed their “Mahler Project” six years ago, the one symphonic work that wasn’t included was Das Lied. In fact, these were Dudamel’s first attempts at this complicated score and, unusual for him, he used a score. Nonetheless, this was a gripping performance and those who attended on Sunday (when the visuals weren’t used) may well have had the best experience.

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(c) Copyright 2018, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

OVERNIGHT REVIEW: Battle, Bassett shine in "Underground Railroad" recital

By Robert D. Thomas

Music Critic, Southern California News Group

Kathleen Battle (shown in a previous recital) came to Cal State Northridge’s Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts for a thought-provoking and triumphant recital entitled “Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey.” Photo credit: timesfreepress.com

Even as she nears her 70th birthday in August, Kathleen Battle remains an enigma in music circles. She began her career singing in oratorios with dozens of orchestras (most notably her “hometown” Cincinnati Symphony), expanded into opera, and subsequently was infamously fired from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994 during rehearsals for The Daughter of the Regiment for "unprofessional actions … [that] were profoundly detrimental to the artistic collaboration among all the cast members,"

Along the way she captured five Grammys and numerous other awards and honors. Following her dismissal by the Met, Battle abandoned performing in opera and concentrated instead on recitals and recordings.

Among other things, she sang the world premiere of Honey and Rue, a song cycle with music by Oscar and Grammy-winner composer André Previn with lyrics by Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, which was commissioned for Battle by Carnegie Hall for the hall’s 100th anniversary.

Now she has returned to her roots by crafting programs of spirituals, finally returning to the Met stage in November 2016 to sing a program entitled “Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey” before a sold-out house. She later reprised the program at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

It was that program she brought to the The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (aka the Valley Performing Arts Center) on the campus of Cal State Northridge last night. The very long evening proved to be a stimulating, thought-provoking, well-crafted program that included Battle, the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers, pianist Joel A. Martin and — most notably — actress Angela Basset reading from the works of Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Robert Hayden and Dr. Charles Blockson.

The evening’s length was due to logistics — there was a little less than two hours of music and readings, about normal for a recital. However, the doors to the hall didn’t open until 7:40 and, given that many of those in attendance had not been in The Soraya before, it took more than 40 minutes to get the very large crowd seated. The recital began just after 8:30, more than 30 minutes after the announced start time, and ended at 11 p.m. (at least, that's when I left).

Through all her ups and downs Battle has always possessed one of the great, limpid, lyrical soprano voices of our generation and it was on full display throughout her portions of the evening — when Battle was center stage for her 14 numbers there was no doubt who was in the spotlight. Most notable were Go Down, Moses, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Fix Me Jesus, Balm In Gilead, and especially her first encore, an a cappella rendition of Were You There? In those numbers it was as if she had turned back the clock.

However, she was smart enough to give several solo turns to the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers (led by its interim artistic director, Dr. Diane White-Clayton) and to Martin, whose Gospel-laden piano work proved to be riveting throughout the evening. Battle seemed to revel in the work of her colleagues, encouraging applause and beaming as she listened. There were very few “diva” signs last night; she even limited her wardrobe to a simple black gown with a magenta cape.

Bassett’s narration (along with short parts read by choir members) told the story of the Underground Railroad and how those struggles apply today. The audience responded with growing enthusiasm throughout the readings and by the end of the recital, even those with little knowledge of the Underground Railroad had a good sense of this historic moment. That alone made the evening worthwhile.

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(c) Copyright 2018, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

NEWS: El Sistema founder dies at age 78

By Robert D. Thomas

Music Critic, Southern California News Group

José Antonio Abreu, founder of Venezuela’s landmark music education system called “El Sistema” has died at the age of 78. He reportedly had been ill for several years.

Abreu began “El Sistema” in 1975 and, although he had some detractors over the decades (partly due to the system’s support from Venezuela’s dictators) “El Sistema” educated hundreds of thousands of mostly poor children from throughout the country. Variations of the program have been established around the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA).

“El Sistema’s” flagship has been its orchestra now known as the Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, who also leads the L.A. Phil. Another graduate is Rafael Payare, who has just been named incoming music director of the San Diego Symphony.

"My heart is overwhelmed," said Dudamel as quoted in the Los Angeles Times. "The music and arts have lost one of its brightest figures. Maestro José Antonio Abreu taught us that art is a universal right and that inspiration and beauty irreversibly transform the soul of a child…. I am who I am today [because of him] and I owe it to Maestro Abreu's generosity, humanity and vision. I feel an immense privilege to have shared a life next to someone of his dimension."

The Los Angeles Times story is HERE.

The New York Times story is HERE.

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(c) Copyright 2018, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

COLUMN: Kathleen Battle headlines a very busy fortnight

By ROBERT D. THOMAS

Music Critic, Southern California News Group

This column was first published in print editions of the Southern California News Group papers.

This coming week is Holy Week in the Christian calendar and next Friday is both Good Friday for Christians and Passover for Jews. It’s also a time for music.

Soprano Kathleen Battle appears March 29 at The Soraya (aka Valley Performing Arts Center) on the Cal State Northridge campus with what has become one of her signature recitals: “Underground Railroad — A Spiritual Journey.” Pianist Joel Martin will accompany the concert, which will also feature the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers.

The program, which will be narrated by actress Angela Basset, offers a chance to hear one of the world’s great sopranos singing spirituals and other songs inspired by the journey to freedom along the Underground Railroad, the 19th-century network of safe houses that allowed African-Americans to escape from slavery.

This is a must-see recital. Information: www.valleyperformingartscenter.org

Michael Tilson Thomas returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall on March 27 when he leads his San Francisco Symphony in a program that bracket’s Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 and Berg’s Violin Concerto, with Gil Shaham as soloist in the concerto.

Thomas has announced his retirement from the SFS music director post at the conclusion of the 2019-2020 season, which will be his 25^th. From 1981-1985 he was the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s principal guest conductor but was bypassed for music director in favor of Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Information: www.laphil.com

Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel returns to the LAPO podium on April 5, 6, 7 and 8 for performances of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erd, one of the last symphonic works that Mahler composed.

The Phil’s artist-collaborator, Yuval Sharon, will stage the work in conjunction with the Chilean theatre company Teatrocinema (Sunday’s performance is just the music). The vocal soloists will be tenor Russell Thomas and mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford.

Information: www.laphil.com

The Angeles Chorale’s second concert of its 43^rd season, “Music for the Child in All of Us,” will take place on April 7 at the First United Methodist Church of Pasadena and April 8 at Northridge United Methodist Church.

Artistic Director John Sutton will lead his ensemble and promises “an interactive, fun and fresh musical experience.” David Prather will host and the program will feature choreography by ArtistsPlus Productions.

Information: www.angeleschorale.org

 

Chad Smith, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s chief operating officer, has been tapped to become music director of the Ojai Music Festival beginning with the 2020 season. He replaces Thomas W. Morris, who is retiring after a 16-year tenure at the adventurous, four-day festival in the bucolic Santa Barbara County town.

 Smith’s initial three-year contract will coincide with the festival’s 75^th anniversary. He will join Matthias Pintscher, who was previously named Ojai’s music director in 2020 and Mitsuko Uchida, who will assume the same post in 2021. Smith is planning on retaining his LAPO duties in addition to taking on the Ojai responsibilities.

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Robert D. Thomas is a freelance music writer. Send him an email at [email protected]. More of his reviews can be found HERE.

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(c) Copyright 2018, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

REVIEW: Pasadena Symphony shines at Ambassador Auditorium

By Robert D. Thomas

Music Critic, Southern California News Group

Andrew van Oeyen performed as soloist with the Pasadena Symphony Saturday at Ambassador Auditorium. Photo credit: Kay Kochenderfer.

 

Music directors of orchestra, choirs, etc. love to build their programs around themes but Saturday’s Pasadena Symphony concert was unique because PSO Music Director David Lockington interwove two themes into the three pieces on the program at Ambassador Auditorium.

Of course it wasn’t necessary that you knew of this thematic duality to enjoy the concert. The masterful performances by Lockington, the orchestra and piano soloist Andrew van Oeyen were enough for any patron in the nearly sold-out house.

The theme of hidden meanings appeared in the first piece, Scherzo Crypto by American composer Alexander Miller, and in the final, far-more-familiar work, Sir Edward Elgar’s <EM>Enigma Variations.</EM> The Elgar title also alluded to the program’s other theme, variations, which also dominated the middle piece, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

One thing unusual about the program was how the orchestra was seated. It’s not unusual to have the cellos in the middle of the ensemble, which promotes a deep, rich bass sound that was appropriate for all three pieces. However, rather than split the violins as is usual, Lockington placed the violas on the right side of the orchestra, which added to the deep tonal luster, particularly in the Elgar.

Scherzo Crypto is a five-minute bundle of energy. The composer is assistant oboist for the Grand Rapids Symphony (Lockington’s former band) and he composed this overture-like work in 2014 on a commission from the San Antonio Symphony.

Embedded within the piece was a cryptogram about a musical instrument that, it turns out, is a viola. Lockington and the orchestra delivered the piece in a spritely manner and, in a nice touch, Lockington used a light to the right of the orchestra to let patrons know when the cryptogram was appearing.

The program’s centerpiece, figuratively and literally, was the Rachmaninoff and, for a change, the highlight was the orchestra rather than the soloist. Van Oeyen was no slouch — which isn’t a big surprise. He made his professional debut at age 16 with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic, won the prestigious Gilmore Young Artist Award in 1999 and also took First Prize in the Leni Fe Bland Foundation National Piano Competition in 2001.

Now, 22 years later, he is an assured, polished presence at the keyboard, offering crisp yet delicate fingering throughout the Rachmaninoff with excellent degrees of dynamic shadings throughout. His rendition of the 14th variation was even more striking than the famous 18th but overall there was much to enjoy in his work.

However, what was really notable was the accompaniment by Lockington and the orchestra. In his five years leading the PSO, Lockington has taken an ensemble that was already quite good and elevated it into one where excellence is the byword.

That was certainly true in the Rachmaninoff and at the beginning of the Elgar, although — whether through orchestral fatigue or pedestrian composition — things tended to flag a bit toward the end. Lockington’s tempos were calm and majestic throughout, particularly in the famed Nimrod section.

HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVERS:

• Just as Lockington was poised to give the downbeat to the Elgar, a cell phone went off in the auditorium. Lockington turned around, pantomimed answering the phone, reset the orchestra and the audience, and moved on smoothly. Other conductors have handled similar situations worse.
• The final concerts in the orchestra’s 90th season are on May 5 when Lockington leads Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 <EM>(Eroica)</EM> and the Violin Concerto, with Angelo Xiang Yu as soloist. Information: <a href="http://pasadenasymphony-pops.org/concert/beethoven-symphony-no-3/">www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org</a>
• The 2018 Pops summer season begins June 23 at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia, as Principal Pops Conductor Michael Feinstein leads tributes to Gershwin and Sondheim. <Information: <a href="http://pasadenasymphony-pops.org/concert/thats-entertainment-gershwin-to-sondheim/">www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org</a>

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(c) Copyright 2018, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

NOTICE: Changing Blog addresses

Please note that as of this date my Blog URL is changing to: http://www.insidesocal.com/classact/ Please change your bookmarks and follow me on my new address.

As you know from my bio, for more than 30 years, I have been a music critic for the Pasadena Star-News and other papers with the Los Angeles Newspaper Group and this new Blog address (which has actually be in existence for several years) is on our papers' Web site.

I look forward to you continuing to read my posts and corresponding with me.

Bob

REVIEW: L.A. Philharmonic open 2014-2015 season with scintillating Mahler

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

Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Oct. 2 at Walt Disney Concert Hall
Lang: man made; Sō Percussion, soloists
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Next performances: Tomorrow at 8 p.m. Sunday at 2 p.m.
Information: www.laphil.com
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My review of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s season-opening concert is online at our papers’ Web site HERE.

Following are some of my additional thoughts on the concert:
• Taking bows continues to be an art form for Dudamel at Disney Hall, but each concert is different. Last night he waded into the orchestra and shook Neil’s hand first. In a later bow, he asked Hooten, Bain and other principals to stand, then sections — even some of the string sections were singled out (an unusual touch). Of course, Dudamel and the orchestra turned to those in seats behind the stage; the audience always loves that.

• Mark Swed’s review in the Los Angeles Times is HERE and Timothy Mangan’s take in the Orange County Register is HERE. Obviously they liked David Lang’s piece more than I did. That's the fun of reading multiple reviews.

• Dudamel will lead the second week of concerts on Oct. 9, 10, 11 and 12 in a program of John Adams’ Harmonium, along with Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor). Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and the Los Angeles Master Chorale will be the soloists. INFORMATION: www.laphil.com

• Following those concerts Dudamel, who had an extremely busy summer, apparently will take a vacation from conducting for a month before returning to lead the Phil Nov. 20-23 (His Web site lists no concerts between the LAPO programs). INFO
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(c) Copyright 2014, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

PREVIEW: There's more to orchestras than the L.A. Phil

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

Somewhat overshadowed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s opening this week (LINK) are a handful of other openings that should be noted.

• The Long Beach Symphony opens its 80th anniversary season Saturday night at 8 p.m. in Long Beach’s Terrace Theatre. Richard Guzman’s preview article on our papers’ Web site is HERE.

The orchestra’s board announced today that it has extended Kelly Ruggirello’s contract as the LBSO executive director through the 2017. Ruggirello took over the post 18 months ago and this announcement means, presumably, that she will be leading the orchestra through its music director transition. Enrique Arturo Diemecke resigned abruptly last season after 13 years as the LBSO’s music director.

Concert information: www.lbso.org

• The London Philharmonic Orchestra will make a stop at California State Northridge’s Valley Performing Arts Center on Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski will lead the program of Dvorak’s The Noonday Witch, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 (“Pathetique”) and Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as soloist. Incidentally, the LPO announced yesterday that Jurowski’s contract has been extended through at least 2018 (LINK).

Information: www.valleyperformingartscenter.org

The following day, the LPO moves down the 405 Freeway to the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa when it opens the Philharmonic Society of Orange County’s 2014-2015 season on Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. with the same program and performers as at VPAC. Information: www.philharmonicsociety.org

If you’re so inclined, you can comparison performances of the concerto because Behzod Abduraimov will be the soloist when the Los Angeles Philharmonic pairs Prokofiev’s third concerto with Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7 in a “Casual Friday” concert on Oct. 17. Basque conductor Juanjo Mena will conduct. The concerts on Oct. 18 and 19 add Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony to the aforementioned two. Information: www.laphil.com
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(c) Copyright 2014, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

AROUND TOWN/MUSIC: L.A. Phil and others open 2014-2015 seasons

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
A shorter version of this article was first published today in the above papers.

Less than three weeks after concluding its Hollywood Bowl summer season, the Los Angeles Philharmonic will open its 2014-2015 season this week at Walt Disney Concert Hall as Music Director Gustavo Dudamel (right) leads the annual gala concert on Sept. 30 and the first two weekends of subscription concerts beginning Oct. 2.

During his sixth season as the Phil’s music director, Dudamel, now age 33, will conduct 12 subscription programs during the upcoming season along with Tuesday’s gala. Dudamel will also lead the orchestra on an Asian tour in March 2015.

The gala (which benefits the musicians’ pension fund) will honor legendary movie score composer John Williams, whose 49 Academy Awards are second only to Walt Disney. Dudamel will conduct music ranging from familiar (Star Wars) to less-well-known scores (The Adventures of Tintin). Violinist Itzhak Perlman will be the soloist in excerpts from Schindler’s List and Fiddler on the Roof.

Information: www.laphil.com

The opening week of LAPO subscription concerts (Oct. 2, 3, 4 and 5) will begin with the U.S. premiere of man made by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang. The quartet “Sō Percussion” will be the soloist in the concerto, a L.A. Phil co-commission that was written for the quartet and premiered last May in London. This will be one of 10 L.A. Phil-commissioned works in the upcoming season.

In his program note, Lang wrote: “I have worked with Sō Percussion (pictured left) for a very long time now. They are frequently theatrical, they invite found objects into their performances, they build their own instruments, etc. I wondered if I could make the unusualness of their musicality the centerpiece of this concerto, but how could an orchestra of ‘normal’ instruments doing mostly ‘normal’ things find common ground with them?"

“My solution,” continues Lang, “was to set up a kind of ecology between the soloists and the orchestra, using the orchestral percussionists as ‘translators.’ An idea begins with the soloists on an invented instrument, the percussionists in the orchestra hear the solo music and translate it into something that can be approximated by more traditional orchestral percussion, the rest of the orchestra hears and understands the orchestral percussion, and they join in.

“The opening, for example begins with the soloists snapping twigs, which the orchestral percussionists translate into woodblocks, marimba, and xylophone, which the orchestra takes up and embellishes, eventually overwhelming the soloists. This process of finding something intricate and unique, decoding it, regularizing it, and mass producing it reminded me of how a lot of ideas in our world get invented, built, and overwhelmed, so I decided to call it man made.”

This weekend’s concerts will conclude with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, a work that Dudamel has conducted and recorded with his Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. However, this marks the first time that he has conducted it with the Phil.

KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen has a concert preview HERE.

Information: www.laphil.com

The second week of subscription concerts (Oct. 9, 10, 11 and 12) will find Dudamel conducting John Adams’ Harmonium, along with Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor). Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and the Los Angeles Master Chorale will be the soloists.

INFORMATION: www.laphil.com

Two other L.A. Phil series begin during the upcoming fornight. Sō Percussion and LAPO percussionists will open the Phil’s “Green Umbrella” series of new-music concerts on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Disney Hall, performing music by David Lang and Michael Gordon, co-founders of the group “Bang on a Can.”

Information: www.laphil.com

Meanwhile, the Phil’s organ series, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Disney Hall instrument, will open Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Organist Christopher Houlihan, LAPO Principal Timpanist Joseph Pereira and members of the orchestra’s brass section will offer a selection of music ranging over four centuries.

Information: www.laphil.com

HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVERS:
• The “Green Umbrella” and organ recital concert are part of a new Phil new ticketing policy where a limited number of seats are offered for $20. They are available online, by phone and in person at the box office. INFO

• The opening concerts also mark the resumption of “FastNotes,” the orchestra innovative informational effort. You sign up for a Phil email account (no charge) and a few days before each concert you get an email with program notes, bios, links, audio samples and ticketing information about the event. A few other organizations have similar programs but none as good as the Phil’s. LINK

• The Phil has also announced that Danish conductor Christian Kluxen and New Zealand native Gemma New will participate in this season’s Dudamel Fellowship Program. This program has shrunk during the past two years, going from four Fellows in 2012-13 to three last season and now two. However, LAPO Director of Public Relations Sophie Jeffries reports: “There is no fixed number for how many Dudamel Fellows are announced each year. It has to do with identifying young conductors to take part and also their availability.”

Lluxen leads the Philharmonia of London’s “iOrchestra” project and just finished a three-year stint as Assistant Conductor of the Royal Scottish Orchestra. New is Associate Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony and Founder and Director of the Lunar Ensemble, a contemporary music collective in Baltimore.

Read the media release HERE.

• The Phil also recently named Lithuanian native Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, a Dudamel Fellow two seasons ago, as the orchestra’s Assistant Conductor. Read the media release HERE.

ALSO UPCOMING:
Two of the Southland’s — indeed, the nation’s — premiere youth orchestras open their seasons during the next fortnight.

• Roger Kalia begins his final season as music director of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra on Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Aratani/Japan American Theater in Little Tokyo. The program, which celebrates 60 years for the YMF, will feature flutist Catherine Baker and soprano Solène Le Van as soloists; both were Special Recognition winners in the recent YMF Debut Concerto Competition. Tickets are $5. Information: www.ymf.org

• Meanwhile, the American Youth Symphony kicks off its 50th anniversary season with a free concert on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. in UCLA’s Royce Hall. Music Director Alexander Treger leads his ensemble — 107 musicians, ages 15 to 27, representing 26 schools — in Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 and the world premiere of Henri Lazarof’s Cello Concerto No. 4. Alan Steele, who at age 21, departed the AYS to become principal cellist of the Fort Worth Symphony, will be the concerto soloist. Information: www.aysymphony.org
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(c) Copyright 2014, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

(Rev.) OVERNIGHT REVIEW: Jeffrey Kahane, LACO open 46th season with "world tour"

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
The revision includes the name of the encore.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; Jeffrey Kahane, conductor
Saturday, September 20, 2014 at Glendale’s Alex Theatre
Patrick: Lines of the Southern Cross
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 (Egyptian); Juho Pohjonen, soloist
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor.
Next performance: Tonight at 7 p.m. UCLA’s Royce Hall. Concert preview at 6 p.m.
Information: www.laco.org
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Jeffrey Kahane took his audience on an around-the-world tour for the opening concert of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s 46th season last night in Glendale’s Alex Theatre. The itinerary included Australia by way of Southern California, Egypt via France and Finland, and Germany-Austria.

Kahane, beginning his 18th season as LACO’s music director, opened the program with the LACO-commissioned world premiere of Lines of the Southern Cross by 46-year-old Australia native Cameron Patrick, who now lives in Los Angeles.

The 15-minute, five-movement work for strings and percussion used sounds that replicated Aboriginal instruments — in his preconcert talk, Patrick explained that importing actual instruments would have been too difficult legally.

Patrick also employed “songline,” an aural map that describes geographical features, to paint evocative pictures of the wide-open Outback spaces (Lake Cootharaba, K’gari Coast and Nullabor Plain). The jazz-infused final section added a joyous counterpoint to the mystery. The audience responded with a thunderous standing ovation.

Prior to intermission, Kahane, the orchestra and Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen offered a scintillating performance of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 5. The only other time that LACO had programmed this last of the composer’s piano concertos was in 1985 when Gerard Schwarz was music director, Kahane was three years shy of making his conducting debut, and Pohjonen was age four.

Now a rising star in the piano firmament, Pohjonen displayed impeccable technique throughout Saturday night, particularly in his ultra-clean runs and trills. However what made this performance special were his exquisite shadings and musicality, especially in the second movement that gives the concerto its nickname, “Egyptian” (reportedly the composer heard that movement’s main theme being sung by boatmen while cruising down the Nile River). Kahane and the orchestra offered supple accompaniment throughout the performance. Pohjonen encored with Les chinois by François Couperin from Pieces de Clavecin, Book 4: 27th Ordre in B minor

After intermission, Kahane and his orchestra a brisk account of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Like the concerto, this was just the second time that LACO has played this most familiar of Beethoven symphonies (the other time was in 2009) but Kahane conducted it from memory.

This performance also demonstrated Kahane’s savvy programming in broadening LACO’s repertory to include “larger” symphonies (as opposed to those of Mozart and Haydn, to name but two composers). Saturday night wasn’t a note-perfect performance but the 53 players approximated the size Beethoven would have used and, compared to a “full-sized” orchestra of 90 or so, played with a transparency that allowed many of the inner voices to shine through clearly.

HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVERS:
• Prior to the performance, Kahane took the opportunity to salute Andrea Laguni, who has retired after 19 years as the orchestra’s general manager.
• In the preconcert talk, in addition to Kahane interviewing Patrick about Lines of the Southern Cross, Principal Oboeist Alan Vogel played Saint-Saëns' Oboe Sonata, with Kahane accompanying at the keyboard.
• Most interesting item gleaned from Dr. Christine Lee Gengaro’s music notes: There was a 20-year-gap between Saint-Saëns fourth and fifth piano concertos. He wrote the Egyptian concerto in 1896 for the 50th anniversary of his debut at Paris’ Salle Pleyel when he was age 11.
• The next LACO orchestra concerts are Oct. 18 (at the Alex) and 19 (at UCLA’s Royce Hall). Douglas Boyd leads a program of George Benjamin’s At First Light; Mozart’s “Haffner” March and “Haffner” Serenade; and Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2, with Steven Isserlis as soloist. Information: www.laco.org
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(c) Copyright 2014, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.