Gustavo Dudamel’s much-anticipated Mahler Project opened in grand style at Walt Disney Concert Hall this weekend.  Culture Spot LA attended the Jan. 14 concert, and clearly Gustavo and Gustav have a kinship that is special.

The Mahler Project is an international collaboration between the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela.  The two orchestras will present Mahler’s entire symphonic corpus over an intense few weeks here in LA, and then repeat the cycle in Caracas to honor the 100th anniversary of Mahler’s death.

This first program featured the LA Phil with internationally acclaimed American baritone Thomas Hampson singing Songs of a Wayfarer (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen) and Symphony No. 4 with Swedish soprano Miah Persson joining in the final movement.  The pairing made for a great introduction to the Project.  Arguably these two compositions frame the early period of Mahler’s development and are perhaps the most tuneful and approachable of his works.  Both compositions were based loosely on the popular German folk poetry of The Youth’s Magic Horn (Des Knaben Wunderhorn), although Mahler composed the text himself.

Dudamel, without score, led us through Mahler’s all-too-personal sentiments of love, rejection, grief and aimless wandering.  His style this evening was a bit more subtle than usual, perhaps saving his energy for the immense journey on which he has embarked.  His left hand produced significant direction; I found myself mesmerized by its fluid expression.  The tonus of each muscle was informed by the innate soul of this magnificent music.

Large in stature with an even larger voice, Hampson, who spent much of the past year celebrating Mahler, was a commanding presence in persona and sound.  His voice filled the entirety of the Hall, and his expressions and gestures bespoke the affect of love and youth.  His range of expression was extraordinary.

Hampson found the character in each movement and realized them masterfully.  The opening song, When My Sweetheart Is Married, featured upbeat winds juxtaposed against his dark, sullen vocals.

I Went Over the Field This Morning sported an energetic melody and pastoral feel with the flute and voice.  The sound was delicate with brilliant combinations of winds and high strings, punctuated with subtle percussion effects.

As you may expect, I Have a Gleaming Knife was highly charged, relatively dissonant and loud.  Dudamel allowed the smallish ensemble to play unbound.  The despair and angst were palpable in both Hampson and the musicians.

The concluding song of the cycle, The Two Blue Eyes of My Beloved, was beautifully lyrical and evoked a connotation of chorale.  The ending produced a sweet reverie that left the audience somewhat stilled, and Dudamel heightened the effect with his lingering gestures.  The delayed applause increased in its intensity over a period of minutes.

After a short intermission, we heard Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, perhaps the most often performed of his compositions, and the last of his delightful Wunderhorn-inspired works.  Persson’s final song was preceded by three symphonic movements that were significantly weighted with woodwinds. Curiously, there were no low brass instruments, their role artfully subsumed by bass-clarinet, contrabassoon, seven contrabasses and percussion.

The first movement, in traditional sonata form, was lightly warmed by the cheery sound of gentle sleigh bells and high, chirping winds.  The second movement scherzo, featured Principal Concertmaster Martin Chalifour with devilishly alluring fiddle-style passages.  The adagio was wonderfully serene and peaceful, and the Phil players executed Mahler’s orchestration flawlessly. Every detail in the combination of individual instruments was exquisite, and easily perceived in our magnificent Disney Hall.

Persson produced a heavenly song that soared high with the saints she referenced.  Her silken voice gave meaning to the melodies that Mahler had so skillfully crafted.  Her artistry was astonishingly affective.

Bravo to Dudamel and his vision for this Project!  Place him in league with Bernstein and Boulez among Mahler enthusiasts.  Bravo to Hampson and Persson for their unforgettable performances!  Don’t miss the unique opportunity to experience this epic musical adventure as we move into the deeper realm of Mahler’s psyche in the coming weeks.

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LA Phil with Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Jean-Yves Thibaudet is known as a soloist in the salons and chamber halls of LA, and he is in demand as a soloist in the film industry for his ability to express passionate music. He is a great match with Liszt. Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya is an international star, and his leadership of the Fort Worth Symphony is lauded by the cultural community, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Program:

•  Dvorák:  Hussite Overture

•  Liszt:   Piano Concerto No. 2

•  Saint-Saëns:  Symphony No. 3, “Organ”

Saint-Saëns Third Symphony was his last, and he dedicated it to the memory of his friend Franz Liszt, who died that year, 1886. Fans of the film Babe will recognize the theme.

Thursday, Jan. 5, 8 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 6, 11 a.m.

Saturday, Jan. 7, 8 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 8, 2 p.m.

Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Avenue, LA

Tickets:  LAPhil.com, the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office or any Ticketmaster outlet. To order by phone with credit card, please call the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office at (323) 850-2000, or Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. For more information, call (323) 850-2000.

Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in Walt Disney Concert Hall’s auditorium one hour and 15 minutes prior to the Friday concert and in BP Hall one hour prior to the Thursday, Saturday and Sunday concerts, and are free to all ticket holders. Alan Chapman, KUSC-FM radio host, composer-lyricist and pianist, hosts.

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Pasadena Master Chorale and Los Angeles Daiku sing Beethoven’s Ninth

Beethoven’s Ninth comes to LA in grand style on Jan. 7, when the Pasadena Master Chorale (PMC) joins Los Angeles Daiku at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse in a wonderful concert to hail the new year.

Jeffrey Bernstein, Artistic Director of both PMC and Los Angeles Daiku (the largest such group outside Japan), says that “when a Japanese person says ‘daiku,’ he or she is referring to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. In Japan, there are literally hundreds of performances per year, with some of them drawing massed choirs of 500 to 600 participants.”

Soloists are Krystle Casey, soprano; Jessica Marney, mezzo-soprano; Arthur Rishi, tenor; and Cedric Berry, baritone.

Saturday, Jan. 7, 7:30 p.m.

San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, 320 S. Mission Drive, San Gabriel

Tickets:  $25

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Moscow String Quartet

The Da Camera Society Chamber Music in Historic Sites brings the Moscow String Quartet to Topanga at the Mermaid.

The ensemble players are Eugenia Alikhanova and Galina Kokhanovskaia, violins; Tatiana Kokhanovskaya, viola; and Olga Ogranovitch, cello.

Program:

•  Borodin: String Quartet No.2 in D Major

•  Mozart: String Quartet in D Major, K575

•  Shostakovich: String Quartet No.1 in C Major, Op.49

Expect the Borodin quartet to be authentic — Jim Eninger’s Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter says that the quartet players “are graduates of the Moscow Conservatory and Gnessin Musical Institute in Moscow, who met in the class of renowned cellist Valentin Berlinsky of the Borodin Quartet. They went on to gain international acclaim by winning the Leo Weiner International Quartet Competition in Budapest, Hungary. The quartet also won First Prize for best performance of Classical music and Grand-Prix for its interpretation of contemporary music at the International Quartet Competition in Evian, France.”

Sunday, Jan. 8, 2 & 4 p.m.

The Mermaid, Topanga

Single tickets: $88, $78, includes a light reception

For information, call (213) 477-2929.

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~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

Culture Spot LA recommends Jim Eninger’s Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter, an extensive calendar of upcoming music events, large and small, happening all around Los Angeles.

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GUILLAUME SUTRE violin

UCLA’s GUILLAUME SUTRE and pianist NEAL STULBERG are performing all of Mozart’s masterpieces for violin and piano in multiple concerts as they prepare for their European tour.  What an ambitious idea this is, and who better to pull it off?  Look for future concerts at Schoenberg Hall in 2012.

Program – Mozart à Deux: The Sonatas for Violin and Piano:

• Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, K380

• Violin Sonata in D Major, K306

• Violin Sonata in B-flat Major, K454

Saturday, Dec. 3, 7 p.m.

Sage-Granada Park United Methodist Church

Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, 1850 W. Hellman Ave., Alhambra

Suggested donation: $15 / $5 for seniors (55+) and students (with current ID).

For information and tickets, call (626) 230 5435.

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KARITA MATTILA soprano

Internationally recognized soprano Karita Mattila will sing songs of Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen, along with arias of Poulenc and Debussy.  The adjustable acoustics built into the Broad Stage design make it a splendid venue for singers.

Saturday, Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage, SMC Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica.

Tickets: $110, $85, $65.

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TAKÁCS QUARTET

The Ace Gallery Institute of Contemporary Art presents the Takács Quartet with EDWARD DUSINBERRE violin, KÁROLY SCHRANZ violin, GERALDINE WALTHER viola, and ANDRÁS FEJÉR cello.  The quartet received a Grammy and Gramophone Award for the Best Chamber Music Recording for its recording of the Beethoven quartets.

Saturday, Dec. 3, 8 p.m.

Ace Gallery Institute of Contemporary Art, 9430 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills

Admission: $60. Tickets for purchase are extremely limited. Contact the gallery at (323) 935-4411 for information on availability and purchase (unreserved general seating).

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PHILLIP LEVY violin, FRANÇOIS CHOUCHAN piano

Levy and Chouchan will preview their Dec. 11 Le Salon de Musiques program at the SUNDAYS LIVE Chamber Music Series Dec. 4.  FRANÇOIS CHOUCHAN founded the chamber music series Le Salon de Musiques held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, now in its second season.  He and PHILLIP LEVY will perform Franck’s Sonata in A Major and Mozart’s Sonata in E Minor, K304.

SUNDAYS LIVE brings Southern California chamber music concerts free to the public.  No tickets or reservations are required for the live performances, and the concerts are streamed live on the Internet. Listen by clicking http://more.lacma.org:8088/SundaysLive at concert time:

Sunday, Dec. 4, 6 p.m.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art – Leo S. Bing Theater, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. (just east of Fairfax)

Free admission. For concert and artist information, call (323) 857-6234.

Le Salon de Musiques is a unique concept in an especially Los Angeles venue.  The panoramic view of the hills from the Impresario Room of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion becomes the backdrop, and a gourmet buffet with French Champagne and conversation serves up a wonderful coda!  Culture Spot LA’s Henry Schlinger reviewed Levy at Le Salon de Musiques last season and highly recommended the series.

Sunday, Dec. 11, 4 p.m.

Impresario Room, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., LA

Tickets: $65

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ORION WEISS piano, JASON UYEYAMA violin, MADELEINE KABAT cello

La Sierra University Chamber Music Series has a great program in the Redlands area on Thursday evening.  ORION WEISS joins other Juilliard alumni, cellist MADELEINE KABAT and violinist JASON UYEYAMA, the Director of String Studies at La Sierra University.

Program

• Beethoven: Piano Trio in G Major Op.121a, (Ten Variations on “Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu”)

• Brahms: Sonata for Piano and Cello in E minor, Op.38

• Shostakovich: Piano Trio in E minor, Op.67

Culture Spot LA reviewed Orion Weiss in an extraordinary concert last year at the Clark Library with three members of the famed French Ebene Quartet (an interesting story worth reading).

Thursday, Dec. 8, 7 p.m.

Hole Memorial Auditorium, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside

Tickets: $10 / $5 for seniors, LSU faculty, staff and students; $20 for families; children 12 and under are free.  For information, call the La Sierra University Department of Music at (951) 785-2036.

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

Culture Spot LA recommends Jim Eninger’s Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter, an extensive calendar of upcoming music events, large and small, happening all around Los Angeles.

Esa-Pekka Salonen and Emanuel Ax / photo courtesy of LA Phil

LA Phil Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen returned to Los Angeles with Swedish composer Anders Hillborg and a triumphant saga for the ages.  Like Homer’s Ulysses, Salonen tethered himself to the mast of the LA Phil and took us on a dramatic voyage through the world of the Sirens, and with Hillborg’s help, we too heard their irresistible song and survived.

Our odyssey began Friday, Nov. 25, at 8 p.m. at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and after a dramatic all-Beethoven first half featuring world-acclaimed pianist and LA Phil friend Emanuel Ax, we were on course to witness the siren songs of soprano Hila Plitmann, mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and the LA Master Chorale.

Salonen opened the evening with a bolt of lightning; he put his whole body and soul into it, and prefaced it with an extended dramatic pause.  Beethoven’s dissonant Leonore No.2 served up a powerful opening shot.  Salonen and the Phil are no strangers to the work, having released a recorded performance of it in 2006, and the artistic persona expressed by it is rarely exposed so purely and simply.  Salonen “kicked it up a notch” as he leaned into the orchestra with his animated gestures.  He reminded me of popular chef Emeril Lagasse putting “Bam!” into his Beethoven. The winds were strong, and they balanced artfully with the strings, although the horns were muddled at times. The off-stage trumpet of Chris Still was nicely done, and the frenetic finale created a wonderful introduction for the Concerto.

Emanuel Ax was brilliant with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2.  His technique made his work appear effortless, a seemingly impossible task given the lightning quick arpeggios and runs.  His artistic integrity is unmatched, enabled by the acute attention he devotes to the details of every note and phrase.  Although elegant, there was urgency in the connotation of his interpretation, and Salonen, for his part, kept the resulting energy electrified. Ax’s flawless and inspired performance was surely the highpoint of the concert for many in the audience.  After a warm and sustained ovation, he took us to a sweet, more contemplative state before his departure with a beautiful solo encore of Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 12, No.1.

Hillborg’s Sirens was commissioned by the LA Phil and is dedicated to Salonen and in memory of Betty Freeman. This evening’s performance was the much-anticipated world premiere. Ulysses’ encounter with the Sirens in Homer’s The Odyssey is the theme, and the text is taken from historical sources with original material added by Hillborg.  The text was projected in the Hall and it significantly enhanced the experience, as did the intense blue lighting that was used to create a theatrical effect that ushered us to and from the other-world of the Sirens.

Plitmann and von Otter were stellar in their roles; Plitmann’s voice was crystal clear and pierced through the dense sound like a laser beam, and Von Otter was genuinely alluring. The two of them were especially beautiful in duet when their fluid lyric passages soared over the unsettled background.  The singing was particularly affective when accompanied only by the sound of the ethereal glass armonia, a set of glass bowls that resonate with a delicate shimmering sound made by gentle finger pressure around the wetted rim of the vessel.  The wetness of the sound was a nice touch.

Hillborg’s orchestration was large with the winds extended in all ranges and colors. Unorthodox instrumental and vocal effects around complex inharmonic and harmonic intervals were characteristic of the dense and ever-evolving background, highly charged at times, but rarely lyric.  The chorus snapped their fingers and whispered indistinct syllables in addition to their conventional art.  An undercurrent of constant energy ebbed and flowed to form a sonic mass of meticulous textures, and the melodic lines flowed upward in broad swaths to entice the listener with anticipation.

Hillborg described the chilling culminating scene in which the “Sirens’ true monstrous identity is revealed, as their powerful singing gradually transforms into horrendous screaming, the mirage/hallucination dissolves and all reverts back to calm sea, as Ulysses’ vessel sails out of danger.”

What a voyage!  What an education to hear the charm of the Sirens unfazed.

Bravi to all!  Salonen and the LA Phil, Ax and Beethoven, Hillborg, Plitmann, von Otter, and the Master Chorale navigated us through a very special night of extraordinary epic drama.

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

Esa-Pekka Salonen and Emanuel Ax / photo courtesy of LA Phil

Ah, the days after Thanksgiving are a great time to spend some quality time with family and friends, and that is just what the Los Angeles Philharmonic is doing this post-holiday weekend, giving us Angelenos a great opportunity to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime program at Walt Disney Concert Hall.  Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen returns for three concerts with pianist Emanuel Ax, soprano Hila Plitmann and mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, backed by the LA Phil and LA Master Chorale.  The program includes Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 2 and his Piano Concerto No. 2 fronting a new world premiere, Sirens, by Swedish composer Anders Hillborg.

Leonore is dramatically dark and dissonant with a classic orchestra of woodwinds, brass, timpani and strings, and was first played by the Phil with conductor Otto Klemperer back in 1934.  I certainly didn’t hear the first one, but Salonen and the modern Phil will make it interesting.

The Piano Concerto No. 2 is orchestrated for a smaller orchestra of strings and only a few winds.  This Beethoven was also performed in the 1930s by Klemperer with pianist Webster Aitken.  Internationally acclaimed soloist and recording artist Emanuel Ax is another close friend of the LA Phil, and this performance may well fall in the category of your “greatest sonic life events.”

Sirens was commissioned by the LA Phil and is dedicated to Esa-Pekka Salonen and in memory of Betty Freeman.  The orchestration is large, and the LA Master Chorale will supply the ethereal and irresistible voices.  Ulysses’ encounter with the Sirens in Homer’s The Odyssey is surely a rich opportunity for dramatic expressions.  Hillborg described the chilling culminating scene in which the “Sirens’ true monstrous identity is revealed, as their powerful singing gradually transforms into horrendous screaming, the mirage/hallucination dissolves and all reverts back to calm sea, as Ulysses’ vessel sails out of danger.”

Culture Spot LA can hardly think of a better way to follow the Thanksgiving holiday, and we hope to find you too resting in calm seas after this drama-drenched program.

Friday, Nov. 25, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 26, 8 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 27, 2 p.m.

Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 South Grand Avenue, LA

Tickets:  Call (323) 850-2000, or visit www.laphil.com.

Lucinda Carver, pianist, harpsichordist, conductor and professor at the USC Thornton School of Music will host Upbeat Live one hour before each concert.  Listen to Upbeat Live from your phone: dial (605) 475-4333, enter the access code 184648, and listen to the preconcert show at 7 p.m. on your way to the performance.

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

Culture Spot LA recommends Jim Eninger’s Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter, an extensive calendar of upcoming music events, large and small, happening all around Los Angeles.

Jean Françaix’s Quartet for English Horn and Strings was written in 1971 using a modern tonal language that relies on pure invention and cultural reference.  Some elements occasionally hinted of Gershwin, but this score was clearly written by a Parisian in Paris.

Carolyn Hove weaved a melody that capitalized on the unique timbral fullness of her instrument in the lower and middle ranges.  Her melodic charm was warm and endearing, especially in the second movement.  Camille Avellano’s violin complemented Hove’s higher register of the final Allegro, and Leticia Oaks Strong’s viola created a wonderful duo with Hove in the Andante as they blended their tones and manners.  The foundation and rhythmic drive was amply provided by Jason Lippmann, especially in the opening allegro vivace.

Francis Poulenc’s Sextet for Piano and Winds was the high point of the concert.  The piece was written in 1932, and its manners are often described as satire — I would prefer to think of it as artistic caricature and Poulenc’s uncanny ability to cut to the quick.  The winds and piano were sufficiently robust to fill the hall with a delightful energy.  Joanne Pearce Martin’s piano provided the catalyst that made it possible for the ensemble to flip from blissful tunefulness to absurd modernity in a Poulenc heartbeat.

Shawn Mouser’s bassoon was super from the start, and his solo was great.  Sarah Jackson’s flute produced all sorts of effects and flutters, her low register was curiously intense and rich, and she at times added a shimmering effect to the ensemble — even her dissonance was beautiful.  Oboist Anne Marie Gabriele and clarinetist David Howard were amazingly nimble, especially in the presstissimo, and Ethan Bearman’s horn was boisterous and the source of much drama in the score.  The ensemble ending was luscious in the way only the winds can express.

Debussy’s String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10, was the main attraction to the program; my purpose was to compare the LA Phil ensemble with the Ebène Quartet who played the Debussy piece just a few weeks earlier across the street at Zipper Hall.  Culture Spot LA reviewed Ebène’s version, so here is a great opportunity to go tête-à-tête with the LA Phil strings.

The ensemble was composed of violinists Minyoung Chang and Robert Vijay Gupta, with violist Dale Hikawa Silverman and cellist Jonathan Karoly, and as a group they were forceful and straightforward in their interpretation.  Karoly was strong, leading the quartet as if laying a foundation to give the upper string effervescence a place to hang.  Silverman had a brilliant tone, and combined with Karoly’s cello, dominated the overall sound.

To start the comparison, Ebène was on the Zipper Hall stage at the Colburn School, and the LA Phil artists were in Disney Hall.  For a string quartet, the smaller Zipper Hall with its adjustable acoustics was much preferable.  Although Disney Hall is acoustically superb, its size still exacted a toll on the sound, and, combined with a smaller audience, the ambiance was less intimate.  Disney Hall was dark except for highlights on the organ pipes and spots on the players.  The lighted organ pipes also gave the room a perceptual largeness and further diminished the feeling of intimacy by illuminating large areas of empty space.

The LA Phil’s Debussy was strikingly different from Ebène’s, and the difference was not one of technical prowess — the LA Phil artists are top-tier performers.  The difference was more subtle than the faithful execution of the individual parts; the difference in sound was the result of the level of coordination, communication, and familiarity among the musicians.  The sheer number of hours in rehearsal and performance give Ebène a palpable unanimity of interpretation and synchrony in execution that the LA Phil players simply cannot match. Although the LA Phil players were individually superb in their parts, they were inconsistent in their collective details.  Tough schedule.

Bravi to all!  Carolyn Hove’s performance of Françaix’s quartet was delightful, and the winds and Joanne Pearce Martin’s piano deserve a special salute for their Poulenc.

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

Native Los Angeles violinist, Arnold Steinhardt, retired principal and founding member of the famed Guarneri Quartet, was joined by violist Paul Neubauer and cellist Fred Sherry for the opening Trio. The ensemble was tentative with the first movement Allegretto, but the Andante managed to find sure footing, largely on the efforts of Sherry’s cello.  The Menuetto was delightful, but lacked the energy I expected, perhaps in part attributable to the acoustics of the venue.  Beckman Auditorium was dedicated in 1964, and is used as a multipurpose hall for music, lectures, and theater.  The circular hall with conical ceiling and carpeted floor created a very “dry” sound with only modest reverberation that dampened all but the liveliest passages.  The duos of Steinhardt and Neubauer in the Rondo were the high point of the Trio, and generally speaking, Neubauer’s contributions shined throughout the performance.

The Brahms Quintet No. 1 featured young violinist Jessica Lee, who quite frankly stole the show.  She was animated and dramatic in her style, and her tone was large and perfectly suited for Brahms’ melodies.  Lee was joined by Steinhardt, Neubauer, and violist Beth Guterman who blended beautifully together.  Sherry again grounded the ensemble, and when his role was melodic, his lyric lines engaged my attention.  The group was well balanced in the rich harmonies and they brought to life Brahms’ overt Romanticism. The soft passages were perfectly controlled and then contrasted with emphatic climaxes.  Brahms favored the viola voice, and Neubauer and Guterman played their parts beautifully.  Lee was brilliant in the Allegro non troppo, and gave it her unmistakable brio.  The sustained pianissimo ending of the second movement was very delicate and effective.

After the intermission, we heard Brahms’ Quintet in F minor, Op. 34.  His arrangement left Lee, now the second violin, occasionally at rest, but every player had ample opportunity to claim the foreground in solo and in various instrumental combinations.  The music was the most intensely emotive of the evening, making it clear why Brahms’ only piano quintet is his definitive work in the format.  Pianist Inon Barnatan was especially fun to hear and watch.  He was powerful in his role, and he singularly added a fullness that effectively accentuated the full sound of the ensemble, but his opening phrases were overtly strong and occasionally obscured the strings.  The Scherzo was somewhat restrained, although the grand Finale was the most impressive ensemble moment of the night.  The sound of thunder leaked into the hall from an autumn storm outside; it curiously seemed to heighten the drama.

Bravo to our distinguished visitors, especially Jessica Lee!  We undoubtedly will hear more from her in the future.

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

Future Coleman Chamber Music Concerts include: Pacific Trio (Jan. 22), Takács String Quartet (Feb. 26), Jupiter String Quartet (Mar. 11), and Pavel Haas String Quartet.

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LA PHIL CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT

This week’s Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber Music Concert leans French.  The Debussy quartet has been a popular selection on local programs in recent times, and Ebène will be a tough act to follow.  Culture Spot LA reviewed the phenomenal French Ebène Quartet a few weeks ago at the Colburn Chamber Society season opening concert; I am curious to hear the LA Phil players and to compare the performances.

Program

• Françaix: Quartet for English horn, violin, viola, and cello

• Poulenc: Sextet

• Debussy: String Quartet in G Minor, Op.10

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 8 p.m.

Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., LA

Tickets: $32.25 – $61.50. For information, call (323) 850-2000.

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MUSICA ANGELICA

JOHN SCHNEIDERMAN director, lute, DANIEL C. PLASTER tenor, HIDEKI YAMAYA lute, JANET WORSLEY STRAUSS and SUSAN FELDMAN violins, WILLIAM SKEEN violoncello, DENISE BRIESE viola da gamba

Program – In Memory of the Masters

• Mark Chatfield (1953-1998): Suite for Gamba Alone

• Karl Kohaut (1726-1784): Concerto for Lute in F Major

• Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): Concerto for Lute in D Major

• Silvius Leopold Weiss (circa 1687-1750): Sonata for Lute in D Minor

• Francesco da Milano (1497-1543): Lute Duets

• John Dowland (1563-1626): Lute Duet, Lute Songs

MUSICA ANGELICA is an internationally acclaimed period-instrument ensemble dedicated to historically informed performances of Renaissance and Baroque music.  Schneiderman is currently a member of the Faculty at the University of California, Irvine, Irvine Valley College, and Orange Coast College.

Read Culture Spot LA’s review of Musica Angelica as the musicians departed on their South American tour last year.

Saturday, Nov. 12, 8 p.m.

The Neighborhood Church, 301 N. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena

Sunday, Nov. 13, 3 p.m.

First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica, 1220 Second St.

Tickets: $49, $39, $29/ seniors $44, $35, $26/ students $15

Members of KUSC and SCEMS receive $10 off the single ticket price.

For information and to purchase tickets, call (310) 458-4504.

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DA CAMERA SOCIETY

Chamber Music in Historic Sites

TANYA TOMKINS cello, ERIC ZIVIAN fortepiano

Program – Beethoven and the Fugue

• Beethoven: Cello Sonata in D Major, Op.102 No.2

• Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.31 in A-flat Major, Op.110

• Beethoven: Cello Sonata No.3 in A Major, Op.69

Enjoy an all Beethoven concert with the Tomkins-Zivian Duo in the main salon of this unique Mediterranean villa, one of noted Southern California architect Wallace Neff’s most graceful and inviting homes.

Sunday, Nov. 13, 2 and 4 p.m.

Thorne House (1928), Linda Vista Hills, Pasadena

Tickets: $89, $79, includes light reception. For information, call (213) 477-2929.

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CALIFORNIA STRING QUARTET

KATIA POPOV and LORAND LOKUSZTA violins, ALMA-LISA FERNANDEZ viola, ARMEN KSAJIKIAN cello

Program

• Haydn: String Quartet in D Major, Op.20 No.4

• Brahms: String Quartet No.1 in C Minor, Op.51

• Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2

“Musical Sunday Afternoons” brings the Los Angeles-based CALIFORNIA STRING QUARTET, founded by members of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, to the familiar Studio City’s First Christian Church seen in motion pictures, television shows, music videos, and commercials.

Sunday, Nov. 13, 2 p.m.

First Christian Church, 4390 Colfax Ave., Studio City

Tickets $25 / $10 seniors / children free. For information, call (818) 763-8218.

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SALASTINA MUSIC SOCIETY

MAIA JASPER and KEVIN KUMAR co-artistic directors and violinists, with guest artists MEREDITH CRAWFORD viola, XIAO-DAN ZHENG cello, STEVEN VANHAUWAERT piano

Program

• Joaquín Turina: La Oracion del Torero (Matador’s Prayer) for String Quartet

• Orlando Gibbons: Fantasias

• Alexander Borodin: Trio in G Minor for two violins and cello, based on Russian folk tune “What Have I Done to Hurt You?”

• Matos Rodriguez: La Cumparsita (Tango)

• Benjamin Godard: Forsaken

• Jeremy Cavaterra: Andante – World Premiere

• Johannes Brahms: Scherzo from Piano Quintet in F Minor

The Salastina Music Society is a new nonprofit organization in its second season dedicated to innovative programming in a unique format with broad audience appeal.  Mingle with the artists at the reception on the grounds immediately after the performance.  Culture Spot LA reviewed a performance last season, and we highly recommend this ensemble.

Sunday, Nov. 13, 3 p.m.

Hannon Theater, Mount St. Mary College, 12001 Chalon Rd., Brentwood

Tickets: $15 advance / $25 at the door / $10 students and children.  Concert information is available here.

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LE SALON DE MUSIQUES

ANTONIO LYSY cello, FRANÇOIS CHOUCHAN piano

Program

• Schubert: Sonata in A Minor for cello and piano, D821, “Arpeggione”

• Grieg: Cello Sonata in A Minor, Op.36

Le Salon de Musiques features leading Southland ensemble artists. The Impresario Room in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion has a beautiful view of the mountains, and after the performance guests are invited to mingle around a gourmet buffet with French Champagne.  Culture Spot LA reviewed concerts last season, and both reviewer Henry Schlinger and I were impressed.

Sunday, Nov. 13, 4 p.m.

Impresario Room (fifth floor) Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., LA

Tickets: $65. Full concert and artist information is available here.

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~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

Culture Spot LA recommends Jim Eninger’s Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter, an extensive calendar of upcoming music events, large and small, happening all around Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by Music Director Grant Gershon, opened its 48th season with a mostly a cappella concert on Oct. 16, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. / photo by Alex J. Berliner/ABImages

The Los Angeles Master Chorale opened its 2011-2012 season to a full house at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Oct. 16 with Grant Gershon and Leslie Leighton sharing the podium in a program that featured some of their all-time best music and close friends.  The headline work, Lux Aeterna, by Morten Lauridsen has become a staple of the Choral repertoire since its LAMC premiere in 1997.  Lauridsen was present for the concert and received a warm and enthusiastic reception after the magnificent performance.

Lux Aeterna was the cornerstone of the event, but several of the smaller works were outstanding.  The program was personal in ethos and eclectic in style, and made for a marvelous celebration.

Swedish composer Thomas Jennefelt’s Music for a big church; for tranquility was a U.S. premiere.  The continuous phrases and sustained voices were layered in an exquisite effect that produced a delicate gong-like sound.  Flourishes would rise and fall as if breathing. The inharmonic complex timbres were perfectly in pitch. The singers were magnificent in their ability to produce emotionally loaded pianissimos, and certainly the acoustical bliss of their Disney Hall home allowed the effect to really come to life.  Jennefelt’s “text” was totally nonverbal yet communicative.  Jennefelt created affect without the meaning of words to mediate it.  The effect was powerful, human voices sang a phonetic “text” that gave rise to emotion without lexical or semantic components to define it.  The sibilant shimmer was a language unto itself, occasionally prosodic, always organic and engaging.  I thought it was brilliant in inception, and the concept was certainly realized in this performance.

Her Sacred Spirit Soars by Eric Whitacre grouped the 115 singers into two choirs of five voices each.  The Chorale was powerful in its portrayal of Whitacre’s modern manners and harmonies.  At times Gershon would roll his hands perpendicular to his body to create a rolling motion in the sound, and his largesse billowed in the voices.  The ending was grand and left us in a high.

Associate Conductor Leslie Leighton took the podium to lead Tal vez tenemos tiempo (Maybe we have time) by London-based composer Tarik O’Regan.  Leighton’s capable direction highlighted yet another aspect of the Chorale’s capabilities and personality.  The style was homophonic and expressionist in its overt emotionality around “solidarity and suffering.”  Her expressive direction implied an object or substance in a plane immediately in front of her, as if she were a sculptor of sorts.  Occasionally she would extend her arm and pull voices from the choir and add them to her vision.  Her face gave tell to the soul of the music, and the Chorale responded with its powerful abilities.

Heavenly Home, arranged by LAMC tenor Shawn Kirchner, was well received and a nice complement to the pre-intermission program. The triptych, including Unclouded Day, Angel Band, and Halleluja, added a traditional moment to the overall modern program. Kirchner knows well the strong points of the LAMC and in his arrangements showcased those aspects in a wonderful piece of Americana in a Gospel style.  The sound was spirited and lively.  The crowd was happy.

The post-intermission program was a homecoming for Lauridsen’s now widely performed Lux Aeterna.  Gershon reorganized the choir for each piece, and in this performance the voices were mixed to produce a totally homogeneous, unlocalized wall of sound.  The swells of energy were substantive in their effect.  Organist Paul Meier was magnificent, and the house organ reached into the resonant depths of the Hall.  There was a musical dialogue between the choir and Meier, and his control of the instrument produced rarely heard effects.  Gershon’s hands often portrayed a viscous medium, and his huge dynamic shifts were passionate, leaving the Agnus Dei astounding in its strength and affect.  His dramatic extended “ppp” final cadence left us stilled.

Bravo!  The Master Chorale and Grant Gershon demonstrated unequivocally why they have risen to their rank as one of America’s finest choirs – a significant accomplishment and testament to the quality and heart of our Los Angeles Master Chorale.

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

Quatuor Ebene

The Colburn Chamber Music Society brought Quatuor Ebène and its signature Debussy to a full house on Oct. 10 to open the 2011-2012 season at Zipper Hall.  The Ebène Quartet has enjoyed meteoric fame since it was awarded “Recording of the Year” at the 2009 Classic FM Gramophone Awards for its disc of Debussy, Ravel, and Fauré string quartets.

The quartet’s notoriety is immediately understandable when you hear it. This live performance of the Debussy String Quartet in G Minor was extraordinary, not only the interpretation, but also its superb execution.  The ensemble was of one mind, from the musicians’ coordinated, distinctive European black attire to their musical spirit that was seemingly unbridled, although never struggling, in a delicately flowing art.  They were authentic and authoritative in their Impressionist manners while also overtly fresh and in the moment.

The synchrony among the players was astounding.  Their individual and collective extra-musical gestural cues added a palpable new dimension to the sound that somewhat explained its unparalleled cohesion.  They moved as a single organic instrument.  Whether their movement was the result of their music or their music was the result of their motion was unclear; it was likely a bit of both.  The gentle to and fro leaning of their bodies and perfectly coordinated bowings were accompanied by unison directional gazes toward a shared aesthetic vision that seemed to guide them blissfully through Debussy’s quartet.

The Ebène players split their duties across two ensembles of Colburn artists to perform Bohuslav Martinû’s delightful La Review de Cuisine and Arnold Schoenberg’s moody Verlärte Nacht.  The joy and happiness of Martinû’s amusing music was a nice counterbalance to the heavy Schoenberg finale, but as good as both of these performances were, the Debussy scheduled between them on the program was in a class by itself.

Martinû’s absurdist drama is a one-act jazz ballet scored for clarinet (Sang Yoon Kim), trumpet (Conrad Jones), bassoon (Michael Zuber), cello (Ebène’s Raphaël Merlin), violin (Ebène’s Gabriel Le Magadure) and piano (Anton Smirnov).  Merlin impressed his seal on a great performance as he drove the ensemble with his sedulous technique that glued the ensemble solidly together.  We could see the affect in his face and hear the feelings of his touch, the glances between him and Le Magadure spoke volumes as both of them filled the room with full-bodied timbres and deliberate phrases.  Each of the winds and Smirnov created some memorable moments with Martinû’s lively composition.

The post-intermission segment was Schoenberg’s intense Romantic string sextet, Verlärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), written as a young and passionate expressionist.  Its programmatic ties to Richard Dehmel’s poem of the same name provided a framework on which he portrayed sometimes jarring emotional states that were often dark and complex.  Ebène’s Pierre Colombet and Mathieu Herzog imbued eloquence to the performance that was undeniable, and both were brilliant in their crafting of the ensemble’s sound. Colombet was expressive as he adjusted his brow in anticipation of his attacks or accompanied his phrasings with a nuanced drop of the mandible; occasionally he would round his lips or stretch the corners of his mouth as if adding a resonant voice to the strings.  Cellist Ronald Leonard, long-time principal of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, had a wonderful, evocative, warm sound that seemed to beckon the attention.  Colburn violinist Elicia Silverstein, violist Anna Kolotylina, and cellist Mindy Park rounded out the sextet, and all had stellar moments in solo and ensemble.

Quatuor Ebène provided a truly wonderful opening to the Colburn Chamber Music season.  Bravi to them and to all of the impressive Colburn artists!

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA