The Festival, which coincides with the 25^th anniversary of Southwest Chamber, will feature 25 works, including 14 Los Angeles or West Coast premieres, three U.S. premieres and four world premieres. Southwest Chamber has commissioned four of the works to be presented.

In the inaugural concert, Artistic Director Jeff Von der Schmidt brought together an impressive group of five prominent composers from Korea, Mexico, Vietnam and San Francisco, all of whom have established credentials as leading artists of new music.

Korean composer Hyo-shin Na discussed the philosophy behind her music in a pre-concert interview with Martin Perlich.  She described a psychology where the individual instruments have different characters that do not abandon their basic nature in the interests of harmony, or even beauty.  That description sounds austere, but the composition certainly did possess a transcendent beauty that was not unlike the inspiring natural phenomena she depicted.

Na’s Ocean/Shore 2, written in 2003, continued her work with literal impressions of the coast of California, and this performance was an LA premiere.  The piece was commissioned by the Zellerbach Foundation to celebrate the 100th year of Korean-American immigration.  True to Na’s philosophy, Shalini Vijayan (violin), Jan Karlin (viola) and Peter Jacobsen (cello) were distinct in their individual musical characters, but collectively formed an airy interleaved figure that loosely coalesced and evolved as the piece progressed.  Jim Foscia’s sustained pianissimo clarinet tones blended beautifully with the strings and their sliding pitches, then his delicate tremolos introduced a unique energy, as did his extended, ascending scale-wise gestures.  Jacobsen’s cello was animated and added a nuanced feeling with his variations in attacks and timbres.  Von der Schmidt interrupted his conducting to deliver a moving recitation. His timing was effective, and his delivery was emotional.

Gabriela Ortiz, born in Mexico City, is an emerging international composer whose music is a unique synthesis of the traditional and the avant-garde.  This performance of Rio de las Mariposas, written for two harps and steel drum in 1995, was a U.S. premiere.  Lynn Vartan was masterful with the percussion.  The blend of harps was compelling. The initial texture was Impressionist, largely due to the harps, although the melodic material was traditional Mexican.  Harpists Alison Bjorkedal and Allison Allport seamlessly flowed together with intricately intertwined figures that coursed under and around the melody that mostly was expressed by Vartan’s gently hammered steel drum.  The sound of the steel had a surprising kinship with the harps, I think emanating from the sharp attacks of the instruments.  Ortiz’s unique blend of European and Latin American elements was a delectable mix.

Berlin-based, Korean-born composer Unsuk Chin’s composition, Akrostichon Wortspiel (Acrostic Wordplay), was fascinating.  Soprano Elissa Johnston was fantastic as she sang this unusual text with its exuberant moodiness that draws its inspiration from seven emotionally evocative fairy-tale scenes in The Neverending Story by Michael Ende and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.

Chin’s colorful orchestration included flute (doubling on alto and piccolo), oboe, clarinet and bass clarinet, mandolin, harp, piano, violin, viola, double bass and a large percussion section.  Tunings of some of the instruments in the ensemble were intentionally microtonal, and Johnston would alternate her singing pitch between these tunings depending upon which she perceived at any given moment.  The technique was quite effective, as she used her voice to select one tuning over the other, reminding me of ambiguous visual figures like the “Necker cube,” the familiar two-dimensional cube representation that can be seen in alternate orientations, but never simultaneously.

Johnston was delightful with her playful presentation of Chin’s text with its creative variations of distorted speech, sibilance and unorthodox sequences of phonemes and words.  Quickly after the opening, her powerful, crystal-clear high register was a magnificent presence that filled the hall and teased us with its promise.  The second movement was rhythmically punchy as she waxed nasal in timbre with piercing vocal glissandos.  In other segments, she was amazing in her vocal skill, projecting whispers, whistles and extended crescendos.  At one point, she sang a rapid text of individual letters and spellings that could have been a musical spelling bee.  The ending was dramatic with her soaring voice.  Johnston was totally captivating, and she made this work one of my favorites of the evening.  Bravo for a delightful performance!

San Francisco native Kurt Rohde described his Concertino for Solo Violin & Ensemble (LA premiere) as a sort of Baroque concerto grosso.  He is a veteran of Southwest Chamber programs, and his music presents as somewhat traditional, although still engaging and keenly organized.  Vijayan’s violin solo was of virtuosic proportions, and the rich tone of her instrument complemented Rohde’s accessible melodic lines, especially in the breathtakingly elegant double-stopped counterpoint of the Sotto movement.  The third movement roared as the ensemble pumped the motorific percussive presto to a stirring finale.  Rohde is a rising star in West Coast new music and has found a uniquely personal voice among his contemporaries.

Up-and-coming Vietnamese composer Vu Nhat Tân has developed an international reputation.  In the pre-concert discussion, he spoke of his memories of Vietnamese contemporary music before the American War.  His composition, Ký Úc (memories), was dramatic with its use of novel instrumental effects.  Percussion was arrayed on both sides of the stage, and pianist Genevieve Lee played the instrument from the inside as well as the outside.  There were glissandos, handclapping and tapping sounds. Tân used unique instrumental combinations, like triangle and timpani, or violin and bass clarinet.  Larry Kaplan was mesmerizing with the musicality of the fluted sounds he produced with his bended pitches, breathy flutters and alternate fingerings.  The ensemble created a parade of enthusiasm that ended with a flourish from the piano that implied a fleeting traditional melody that dissipated into an extended resonance to end the night.

Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School was a great venue.  With its adjustable acoustics, the sound was superb — not dry, not wet, just right; the back wall was damped and the ceiling drapes were not extended.  This venue is probably among the best in Los Angeles for small ensembles.

Bravo to Southwest Chamber on a fantastic opening of their LA International Music Festival, for focusing the ears of the world on Los Angeles as a vibrant center for new music.

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

The LA International New Music Festival continues in three more performances: Saturday, May 12 (Harrison, Tân, Na, Babbitt and Schoenberg); Monday, May 21 (LeBaron, Ortiz, Stravinsky, Carter, Babbitt, Catan, Lieberson and Tân); and Saturday, May 26 (Ortiz, duBois, Tiet and Tân). Funding for the Festival comes from the James Irvine Foundation, Schoenberg Family Charitable Fund, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Cultural Affairs Department of the City of Los Angeles, Cultural Exchange International, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, Asian Cultural Council, and El Fondo Nationale para la Cultura y las Artes (FONCA). Visit www.swmusic.org.

Chamber Music Palisades is in the top tier of Los Angeles ensembles, employing the finest of area musicians.  Stevens and co-founder Susan Greenberg are dedicated longtime stewards of the musical art and have produced a “downtown-quality” event from the grassroots of the Palisades.  They assembled a most interesting program entirely of chamber winds, with Beethoven’s unique quintet of Op.16 as the main course, preceded by works from three composers who migrated to the United States and helped shape the soundscape of the last century: Alexander Zemlinsky, Paul Hindemith and Bohuslav Martinů.

The highpoint of the evening was unquestionably Beethoven’s quintet.  Piano virtuosity was the source of his fame at the time he penned this music, and Stevens was up to the task as she quickly made her presence known with a beautiful solo flourish. Oboist Jonathan Davis was graceful, especially tender at times.  Steve Becknell was intrepid as he triumphed over a treacherous coda for the horn; he nailed it magnificently.  The Andante cantabile was often chorale-like, and the sound enveloped us with a warm, breathy lusciousness that only a wind instrument can produce.  Stevens delicately framed the various episodes of the ensemble.  She supported the winds and bound the music together; yet she was also dazzling in the foreground with her seamless technique and authenticity.  The Rondo possessed a sort of inertia as she embellished the bouncy theme each time it passed through her piano.  The climactic fortissimo was thrilling as the ensemble resonated in the space; their blend was a beautiful, effulgent sound, although up-tempos blurred and fortes boomed.

Although I gush on the Beethoven, it was the other music on the program that attracted me to the concert, especially Zemlinsky.  He was a brother-in-law and musical mentor to Arnold Schoenberg, although his style leans to Mahler, and his 1939 Humoresque for Wind Quintet is a unique strain of the neoclassic sound.

Hindemith’s Kleine Kammermusik for Wind Quintet, Op. 24 No. 2 was yet another unique neoclassic variant.  Zukovsky captured the essence of Hindemith’s pithy melodies, and Davis’ counter theme had a relaxed and enticing lyricism.  In total, it was a great performance.

Martinů resided in Paris in 1929 when he composed his Sextet for Piano and Winds.  His neoclassic structure and interest in American idioms showed through, although always tempered by his Parisian sensibilities.  The ensemble captured Martinů’s effervescent fractal character, with its jazzy syncopation and functional dissonance.  Greenberg was sublime in her playing of the Scherzo.  It was fun to hear the ensemble morph from Parisian blues à la Gershwin into a ragtime.  Martinů left no doubt when the music was finished, as his incongruous neo-Baroque cadences seemingly supplied a grand “ta-da!”

Chamber Music Palisades is a jewel of our local scene.  There are so many intriguing aspects to their programs, and the musicianship is of the highest caliber.  After the intermission, KUSC’s Alan Chapman quipped that the motto should be “Good Music – Good Cookies”; not a bad summary, but the characteristic home-style ambiance belies the sophistication of this fine series.

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

The Los Angeles chamber music scene is in high gear again this week with our best musicians and ensembles performing every day of the week – beautiful music is everywhere throughout the Southland, and some is free!

The early week belongs to Schubert.  On any of three days, starting Monday, enjoy beautiful all-Schubert programs from the Los Angeles Philharmonic Colburn Celebrity Recitals and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber Music Concert.

On Wednesday in Arcadia, LA Phil musicians bring a FREE “Classical Kaleidoscope” of French repertoire for flute and harp with Principal Flutist David Buck and harpist Allison Allport.  The program also includes Schubert’s String Trio.

Also on Wednesday, the Da Camera Society Chamber Music in Historic Sites concert features internationally acclaimed early music vocal ensemble, STILE ANTICO.  In the San Fernando Valley, the Valley Center for the Performing Arts (VPAC) Great Hall brings us the distinguished EMERSON STRING QUARTET (who will also be at the Ace Gallery Institute of Contemporary Art on Friday).

Thursday belongs to J.S. Bach with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Baroque Conversations series with Jeffery Kahane.

Then on Saturday, JACARANDA’s “music at the edge” will be in Santa Monica with the music of Olivier Messiaen, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Henri Dutilleux.  A concert not to be missed!

Two great chamber music concerts finish the week next Sunday: the CAPITOL ENSEMBLE offers a Tchaikovsky theme at Le Salon de Musiques upstairs at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion; and the PAVEL HAAS QUARTET plays the Coleman Chamber Music Concert at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium in Pasadena.

Read further to find the details on all these great concerts.

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Colburn Celebrity Recital with Matthias Goerne

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Colburn Celebrity Recital Series presents internationally acclaimed baritone MATTHIAS GOERNE and pianist CHRISTOPH ESCHENBACH with an all-Schubert program over two dates at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Program – Sublime Schubert

Monday

• Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin

Wednesday

• Schubert: Winterreise

Monday, April 16, 8 p.m.

Wednesday, April 18, 8 p.m.

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

Tickets: $55 – $111

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Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber Music Concert

Members of the LA Phil will perform Schubert’s String Quartet No. 13 and his Quintet in C Major (with two cellos) as part of the chamber music concert series on Tuesday evening.

Program – Sublime Schubert

• Schubert: String Quartet No.13, D804. Op.29, “Rosamunde,” with ELIZABETH BAKER and JIN SHAN DAI violins, BENJAMIN ULLERY viola, and JASON LIPPMANN cello

• Schubert: Quintet in C Major, D956, Op.posth.163 for two violins, viola, and two cellos with NATHAN COLE and AKIKO TARUMOTO violins, INGRID HUTMAN viola, GLORIA LUM and JONATHAN KAROLY cellos.

Tuesday, April 17, 8 p.m.

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

Tickets: $61.50, $43, $32.25.  For information, call (323) 850-2000.

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Classical Kaleidoscope

Enjoy this Free concert!  The Library Concerts Program of the Arcadia Public Library Foundation presents “Classical Kaleidoscope” with DAVID BUCK LA Philharmonic Principal Flute, ALLISON ALLPORT harp, PAUL STEIN LA Philharmonic violinist, AARON OLTMAN viola, and MAKSIM VELICHKIN cello.

Program – Celestial Flute and Harp

• Selections for flute and harp by French composers

• Schubert: String Trio

Wednesday, April 18, 7 p.m.

Cay Mortenson Auditorium, Arcadia Public Library, 20 West Duarte Road, Arcadia

Admission is free. Refreshments will be served with complimentary coffee from Starbucks. For information, click here.

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STILE ANTICO – Early Music Vocal Ensemble

The Da Camera Society Chamber Music in Historic Sites presents the 12-member early music vocal ensemble STILE ANTICO.

Program – Treasures of the Renaissance, Masterpieces from the Golden Age of Choral Music

• N. Gombert (c.1495-1560): Magnificat primi toni

• J. Clemens non Papa (1510-1556): Ego flos campi

• O. Lassus (1532-1594): Veni dilecte mi

• W. Byrd (1540-1623):  Laetentur coel and Vigilate,

• T. Tallis (1505-1585): O Sacrum convivium and Why fum’th in fight

• J. McCabe (b.1939): Woefully arrayed

• J. Sheppard (1515-1558): The Lord’s Prayer

• T. Tomkins (1572-1656): O praise the Lord

• O. Gibbons (1583-1685): I am the resurrection and the life

• G.P. da Palestrina (1525-1594): Exultate Deo

• R. de Ceballos (1530-1591): Hortus Conclusus

• S. de Vivanco (1551-1622): Veni, Dilecti mi

• T.L. de Victoria (1548-1611): O magnum mysterium

• H. Praetorius (1560-1629): Tota pulchra es

Wednesday, April 18, 8 p.m.

St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, 514 W. Adams Blvd., LA

Tickets: $43, $39. For information, call (213) 477-2929.

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EMERSON STRING QUARTET at VPAC

The Valley Performing Arts Center presents the EMERSON STRING QUARTET with EUGENE DRUCKER and PHILIP SETZER violins, LAWRENCE DUTTON viola, DAVID FINCKEL cello, with WU HAN piano.

Formed in 1976, the EMERSON STRING QUARTET has over a period of three decades made more than 30 recordings with Deutsche Grammophon, and garnered nine Grammy Awards, three Gramophone Awards, and the Avery Fisher Prize.

Wednesday, April 18, 8 p.m.

VPAC Great Hall, Cal State University Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge

Tickets: $70, $55, $40, $25.

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LACO Baroque Conversations

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with JEFFREY KAHANE host and keyboard, ALLAN VOGEL oboe, MARGARET BATJER violin, and ANDREW SHULMAN cello devote this installment of Baroque Variations to J.S. Bach.  The artists will introduce the music from the stage and share their personal thoughts in a dialogue with the audience afterward.

Program

• J.S. Bach: Viola da Gamba Sonata in G Major, BWV1027

• J.S. Bach: Oboe Sonata in G Minor, BWV1030b

• J.S. Bach: Violin Sonata in E Major, BWV1016

Thursday, April 19, 7 p.m. (pre-concert reception at 6 p.m.)

Zipper Hall, The Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave., LA

Tickets: $50.  For concert and artist information, program notes, restaurant recommendations, and to order tickets, click here.

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EMERSON STRING QUARTET

Ace Gallery Institute of Contemporary Art presents the EMERSON STRING QUARTET with EUGENE DRUCKER violin, PHILIP SETZER violin, LAWRENCE DUTTON viola, and DAVID FINCKEL cello.

Friday, April 20, 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.

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JACARANDA – music at the edge

MARK ALAN HILT organ, TIMOTHY LOO cello, JACARANDA CHAMBER ENSEMBLE, with SCOTT DUNN conductor.

Jacaranda brings a tribute to Messiaen and two of his great successors, Sofia Gubaidulina and Henri Dutilleux.  This concert is my personal pick of the week!

Program

• Olivier Messiaen: Meditation No.2 and Meditation No.5 from Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité (Meditations on the Mystery of the Holy Trinity,1969)

• Olivier Messiaen: Dieu parmi nous (God Among Us) from La Nativite du Seigneur (The Nativity, 1935)

• Sofia Gubaidulina:  Hell und Dunkel (Light and Darkness, 1976)

• Henri Dutilleux:  Three Strophes on the name of Sacher (1982);  This tribute to Paul Sacher was commissioned by Rostropovich

• Sofia Gubaidulina:  Risonanza (Resonance, 2001) West Coast Premiere.  Written for three trumpets, four trombones, organ, and string sextet, and commissioned by Amsterdam’s Schoenberg Ensemble.

Saturday, April 21, 8 p.m.

First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica, 1220 Second St., Santa Monica

Concert tickets: $40 / $20 students at the door; $35 / $15 students  advance sale.

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PAVEL HAAS QUARTET

Coleman Chamber Music Concerts presents the distinguished PAVEL HAAS QUARTET with VERONIKA JARUSKOVA and EVA KAROVA violins, PAVEL NIKL viola, and PETER JARUSEK cello.

Based in Prague, the PAVEL HAAS QUARTET takes its name from the Czech composer Pavel Haas (1899-1944), who died at Auschwitz.

Program

• Tchaikovsky: Quartet No.1 in D Major, Op.11

• Shostakovich: Quartet No.7 in F-sharp Minor, Op.108

• Schubert: Quartet No.14 in D Minor, D810, “Death and the Maiden”

The Coleman Chamber Concerts, begun in 1904, is now the nation’s oldest chamber music series.

Sunday, April 22, 3:30 p.m.

Beckman Auditorium, Caltech, Pasadena

Tickets: $45, 38, 31, 24 / $15 youth.  For tickets and information, call 1-888-2-CALTECH.

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CAPITOL ENSEMBLE at Le Salon de Musiques

Le Salon de Musiques presents the CAPITOL ENSEMBLE with PHILLIP LEVY and JULIE GIGANTE violins, ALMA LISA FERNANDEZ and ANDREW DUCKLES violas, TIMOTHY LANDAUER and DAVID LOW cellos.

These are wonderful events at which to hear and experience the Southland’s finest ensemble artists.  The venue above the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion offers a panoramic view of the hills that creates a comfortable place to mingle around a gourmet buffet with French Champagne.  Read more about Le Salon de Musiques in Culture Spot LA’s review of their Feb. 26 concert.

Program

• Arensky: Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky, Op.35

• Tchaikovsky: String Sextet in D Minor, Op.70, “Souvenir de Florence”

Sunday, April 22, 4 p.m.

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

Tickets: $65 / $45 students.

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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.

John Adams and Leila Josefowicz / Photo courtesy of LA Phil

Leila Josefowicz delivered a magnificent virtuosic performance of John Adams’ Violin Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall on April 5.  Her selection for this role by Adams himself speaks to the integrity of her portrayal, and the Thursday night performance was truly unforgettable for her brilliant energy that is still lifting my spirits.

In addition to conducting his own Concerto, Adams also led the premiere of Philip Glass’ new Ninth Symphony, co-commissioned by the Bruckner Orchester Linz, Carnegie Hall, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.  This performance was the West Coast premiere after having been first heard on Jan. 1 in Linz with Dennis Russell Davies conducting, and then again on Jan. 31 at Glass’ 75^th birthday celebration with the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

The evening began on the mellow vibe of Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten.  The strings blended beautifully in the hall, and I was struck by the seminal influence of Henry Purcell echoing in the music and eventually heard the connection with Adams and Glass.  A hammered chime cast a solemn mood into the ambiance.  Cascading, descending stepwise melodies were bound together by their common directionality, but Pärt’s asynchronous timing and tempos evoked a sensation of fluid continuity.  The climax was subtle; Adams and the strings had an amazing expressiveness and control.

The mood of the concert abruptly changed as Josefowicz spun Adams’ magical, endless melodies into a seemingly continuous stream of consciousness.  Her rhapsodic sound flowed with an intense, evocative energy.  The blistering speed and perceptual overload in Adams’ melodic lines obliterated the details of the tune itself, leaving only contours and impressions in the senses.  The forward-pulling draw of her hyper-melodic energy never relented. She assertively grabbed our attention and presented as an intellectual force that was keenly focused and distinct from its orchestral body.  The cadenza was elegant with an alluring expressiveness.  Josefowicz has no peers in this arena.

The second movement was true to its poetic title — “Body through which the dream flows.” Josefowicz’s dreamy phrases floated with Adams’ organic orchestral being.  She had a beautiful fluidity of movement that captured the inherent ballet of the music, and her delivery was pregnant with anticipation.  The final “Toccare” again brought a phenomenal display of virtuosity where she may have achieved Mach speed.  Her disheveled bow showed the wear of her fantastic performance, a display of emotion and virtuosity that will likely become one of the high points of her career and may set the standard for the Concerto.

The woodwind-rich orchestration provided much of the coloration in the background.  The sparse brass parts were often muted.  The percussion section was rich, and in addition to the standard instruments, Adams also employed numerous pitched toms, bongos, congas, guiro, claves and cowbell, among other devices, including two keyboard samplers.  Of all the effects, the most compelling was from a bowed vibraphone that was surprisingly resonant and piercing.

Glass’ Ninth Symphony was equally striking.  The jigsaw rhythmic motifs were signature Glass, but the orchestration was richer, especially in the strings, and the sound was definitely a departure from his iconoclastic minimalism.  The music was like comfort food; it was easily digested although hearty and rich.  The contemporary and historical cultural references made it approachable, easily understandable, and inherently satisfying in an updated Gould-like fashion.

Undulating strings formed a diffuse but energetic background, and grumbling low pitches from contrabass instruments gave a murky bottom to the overall impression.  An expansive array of percussion included castanets, glockenspiel, celesta and harp and piano, and although large in scope and orchestration, the Symphony never was unleashed as Adams maintained composure and restraint throughout.

The second movement, soft and tender, was the substance of the work and presented some of the most moving moments of the entire evening.  The third movement sported concurrent non-uniform tempos that blurred the texture, and then culminated with a subtle extended crescendo that gave way to a quiet, introspective ending.  The orchestra was superb, and Adams was perfectly attuned to Glass’ new vision.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic again gave proof to the legitimacy of its unique position as a leader among modern orchestras.  Bravi to Josefowicz and Adams for taking us on such a thrilling sonic adventure!  Bravo to Philip Glass for a wonderful contribution of bold indigenous originality to the contemporary symphonic repertoire!

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

Jonathan Gold / Photo by Anne Fishbein, courtesy of LACO

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Westside Connections series continued a three-concert celebration of food and music on March 21 with Pulitzer Prize-winning restaurant critic Jonathan Gold at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.

Gold’s witty introduction described the obvious synesthesia between taste and sound, and the anecdotes from his professional history as both music and food critic gave unique insight into the program.  We ingest both food and sound into the body, so it is natural to describe them in similar language.  He talked of contrapuntal flavors and textures, the juxtaposition of consonance and dissonance, and the importance of timing in the crescendo of a meal.

Soprano Elissa Johnston was delightful as she opened the concert with three food-themed songs.  Bach’s Ich esse mit Freuden (I eat with joy) from Cantata No. 84 was presented almost as an aperitif, with violinist Margaret Batjer, cellist Armen Ksajikian, oboist Allan Vogel, and organist Patricia Mabee.  Ksajikian was outstanding; his continuo kept the ensemble lightly floating along in a sumptuous testament to the joy of good food.

Leonard Bernstein’s La Bonne Cuisine – Four Recipes for Voice and Piano, literally includes recipes from Madame Saint-Ange’s 1927 cookbook.  Johnston wore a striped kitchen apron as she sang these historic recipes.  Plum Pudding included unctuous references to “Spry” and “Crisco” and “half a glass of Bacardi,” and in Queues de Bœuf she asked, “Are you too proud to serve your friends an oxtail stew?”

William Bolcom’s novel Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise brought chuckles from the audience, and the tartness of Johnston’s singing and her charming manner perfectly complemented this comedic dish.

Timothy Andres’ Sorbet provided a nice ending to the “meal” and cleansed our tonal palates for the musical substance of the program.  I had never heard a sorbet before, but this solo piano dessert did possess a certain coolness. There was a descending three-note figure that never relented and definitely was not pastel in its shading.  Andres’ playing was deliberate and segmental.  Hints of sweetness, creaminess, or fruitiness did not come to my gastronomic mind, but Andres’ music was indeed compelling with what I perceived as muddled undertones of Bartók, somewhat citric and laced with an anisette – very tasty. I wanted a second serving.

After the musical victuals, the audience delighted in Gold’s reading of his famous essay on gourmet SPAM.  In the hands of a creative master, even canned meat, like oxtail stew, can rise to the level of art.

The mainstay of the event was Ernst von Dohnányi’s (1934) Sextet Op. 37.  The ensemble played in a grand style and had a more potent sound than one expected from its six parts.  The influence of Brahms in the syrupy, lyric melodic lines was obvious, and jazzy sprinkles gave hints of the zeitgeist of the era.

Violinist Sarah Thornblade, violist Robert Brophy, and cellist Armen Ksajikian sounded like a small orchestral section.  The ebony sound of Joshua Ranzand’s clarinet and David Everson’s effulgent cornu radiated Dohnányi’s beautiful melodies throughout the room.  Pianist and LACO Music Director Jeffrey Kahane was marvelous at binding the elements together.  The ensemble was sulfuric at times, and Dohnányi’s astringent sweetness gave way to the not-so-subtle heat of the vivace.

Bravo to curator Margaret Batjer and Westside Connections on another great theme this season!  Gold lamented that there was no such instrument as a “food organ,” but now we can surely dream of how it might taste and sound.

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

Eteri Andjaparidze at the keyboard / Photo by Chris Lee

Georgian pianist Eteri Andjaparidze and lighting designer Jennifer Tipton brought their unique light and music experience called Spectral Scriabin to the Broad Stage on March 19.  The show originally premiered in October 2010 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City as part of the Lincoln Center White Light Festival.  Tipton’s lighting and Andjaparidze’s Scriabin together made for a powerful multisensory synesthetic simulation that continued to shine in my memories long after the music stopped.

Tipton is an internationally recognized lighting designer known especially for her work in theater and dance.  Her abstract treatment of Scriabin was totally original and was indeed evocative.  Coupled with Scriabin’s musical elements, she formed glowing sonic objects that hovered and slowly moved above, under and around Andjaparidze and her piano.  Pale disks of color bathed the backdrop and floor, punctuated with gentle cues under the piano and on Andjaparidze’s fingers, face and music.  The sound seemed to localize beyond the piano and emanate from the light, not unlike a ventriloquist effect.  Tipton’s design did not intrude on the music, but enveloped it and gave it an object-like quality of an energy that filled the room.

The lighting was subtle with delicate transformations often occurring below our perceptual threshold for detecting visual change.  As we attended to the colored forms, they appeared static, yet when we attended to Andjaparidze and returned to the background we would find that it had morphed into a new combination of hues and shapes.  The Gestalt was truly mesmerizing as the color and sound combined to evoke an elevated emotional response, especially interpretative with Scriabin’s more esoteric moments.  The palette of colors was narrow with little reliance on technical effects.

Alexander Scriabin was a multimedia pioneer who claimed to have a synesthetic perception of specific colors that were associated with musical harmonies.  His use of the Luce (color piano) in his orchestrations overshadows his contributions as an atonal innovator who was ahead of his time.  Scriabin was himself a pianist and a classmate with Rachmaninov, but his music took a distinctively less-mainstream path as he expressed his personality as a mystic and poet through his unique musical language.

Andjaparidze began in total darkness with the ungrounded opening chords of Vers la Flamme, Poème; light slowly illuminated her hands and face as she waxed legato over hollow harmonies of fourths over fifths.  In dramatic style, she dropped the pages of music on the floor and stilled the audience before moving on to the Quatre préludes (Preludes 1- 4, Opus 22) and Feuillet d’album in F-sharp major (Études 2,4,9,11, Opus 8).  In the Opus 8 Études, she was nimble and exact, but also in the more atonal pieces her fineness of touch successfully sculpted life and form into the music.  Throughout the program, Andjaparidze played marvelously; she captured the persona of Scriabin through all the facets of his music.  At times she was warm and lyrical, at others she was biting and hot.  She could be cold as well.  I really enjoyed her affective control as well as the selections, some of which are rarely performed.  The familiar Sonata No. 4 closed the concert with a dreamy affect that evolved into frenetic hopping chords as Tipton illuminated the stage and piano in her signature brilliant whiteness.

Spectral Scriabin is an amazing way to experience Scriabin’s visionary music, and this collaboration between Andjaparidze and Tipton was both effective and original – an experience to savor.  Bravo!

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

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CAGE 2012 FESTIVAL

Enjoy the music of iconic composer John Cage as Southwest Chamber Music continues its season-long celebration this Sunday.

Cage Program

• Branches

• Music for Carillon No.5

• Radio Music

• Etudes Boreales I-IV

Sunday, March 11, 5 p.m.

Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena

Tickets: $38 / $28 seniors / $10 students

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CHAMBER MUSIC PALISADES

The LYRIS STRING QUARTET with violinists ALYSSA PARK and SHALINI VIJAYAN, violist LUKE MAURER and cellist TIMOTHY LOO joins LACO flutist SUSAN GREENBERG and pianist DELORES STEVENS, founders of CHAMBER MUSIC PALISADES.  KUSC’s ALAN CHAPMAN will provide introductions and commentary for the performance.

Program

• Haydn: Quartet for flute and strings

• Gary Schocker: Child’s Play for flute and strings

• Shostakovich: String Quartet No.3

• Richard Strauss: Piano Quartet

Tuesday, March 13, 8 p.m.

The Sanctuary of Saint Matthew’s Parish, 1031 Bienveneda, Pacific Palisades

Tickets: $30 at the door / students with current ID admitted free.  For information, call (310) 463- 4388.

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SPECTRAL SCRIABIN

Georgian pianist ETERI ANDJAPARIDZE and lighting designer JENNIFER TIPTON explore the legacy of late Romantic Russian composer ALEXANDER SCRIABIN, who pioneered ideas relating colors and musical pitch by staging the first multimedia concert in history with his clavier à lumière that projected colors as it was played.

Scriabin Program

• Poeme Languide in B Major

• Feuillet d’Album in F-sharp Major, Opus Posthumous

• and other selections

Saturday, March 17, 7:30 p.m., lecture by RYAN DUDENBOSTEL at 7 p.m.

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

Tickets: $75, $60, $47. Click for information.

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JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET

The famed JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET, founded in 1946, comes to the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts with JOSEPH LIN and RONALD COPES violins, SAMUEL RHODES viola, and JOEL KROSNICK cello.

Program
• Haydn: Quartet in G Major, Op. 54, No. 1

• Donald Martino: Quartet No.5 (2004)

• Beethoven: Quartet in B-flat Major, Op.130, with Grosse Fuge in B-flat Major, Op.133

Saturday, March 17, 8 p.m.

Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos

Tickets: $60, $48, $36

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JACARANDA – music at the edge

Jacaranda’s PATRICK SCOTT, artistic director and series producer, and MARK ALAN HILT, music director, will deliver a unique program of four distinctive American composers. Rouse described his most recent quartet, premiered by the CALDER QUARTET, as “a drunken schizophrenic having a grand-mal seizure.”  Contrast Rouse with Schuman’s meditative music based on the passion of Shakespeare’s Orpheus.  Bennett’s flute requires superhuman technique, and Kirchner’s piano music is inspired by poems of Emily Dickenson.

The all-star ensemble includes STEVEN VANHAUWAERT piano, PAMELA VLIEK-MARTCHEV flute, SUZANNE WATERS soprano, VICTORIA MISKOLCZY viola, MARIA CASALE harp, and the CALDER QUARTET with BENJAMIN JACOBSON and ANDREW BULBROOK violins, JONATHAN MOERSCHEL viola, and ERIC BYERS cello.

Program

• Leon Kirchner: Five Pieces for Piano (1987)

• Richard Rodney Bennett: Six Tunes for the Instruction of Singing Birds (1981)

• Christopher Rouse: String Quartet No.2 (1988)

• William Schuman: In Sweet Music: Serenade on a setting of Shakespeare (1978)

• Christopher Rouse: String Quartet No.3 (2009) – Los Angeles Premiere

Saturday, March 17, 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 18, 6 p.m.

First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica, 1220 Second St., Santa Monica

Tickets: $40/$20 students at the door, $35/$15 students advance sale

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EMANUEL AX

Some musicians need no introduction, and pianist Emanuel Ax is certainly one of them.  This is a great program, well-worth the drive to the Soka Performing Arts Center; Ax is a master.

Program

• Copland: Piano Variations

• Haydn: Andante with Variations in F Minor

• Beethoven: Variations and Fugue in E-flat Major, “Eroica”

• Schumann: Études en forme de variations

Sunday, March 18, 7p.m.

Soka Performing Arts Center, 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo

Tickets: $33 / $23 students and seniors

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Piatigorsky International Cello Festival

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra brings “BEETHOVEN PLUS” to the continuing cello festival this week.  This LACO afternoon concert at Zipper Hall will be great – Shulman and Kahane will be hard to top.

Program

• Beethoven: Variations for cello and piano in E-flat Major on Mozart’s Bei Männern, WoO46, ANTONIO LYSY, cello, ANTOINETTE PERRY, piano

• Osvaldo Golijov: Omaramor, ANTONIO LYSY, cello, ANTOINETTE PERRY, piano

• Haydn/Piatigorsky: Divertimento in D Major, EVAN DRACHMAN (Piatigorsky’s grandson), cello, and PERRY

• Gregor Piatigorsky: Prayer, DRACHMAN and PERRY

• Grant Beglarian: Of Fables, Foibles and Fancies, NATHANIEL ROSEN, cello, with narrator JOHN RUBINSTEIN

• Beethoven: Cello Sonata in C Major, Op.102 No.1, ANDREW SHULMAN, cello, and JEFFREY KAHANE, piano

Sunday, March 18, noon

Zipper Hall at The Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles

Tickets: $20-$40

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PIATIGORSKY INTERNATIONAL CELLO FESTIVAL

The festival then continues across the street at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Colburn Celebrity Recital Series.  There is something for everyone in this remarkable festival finale.

Program

• Emanuel Moor: Prelude, RONALD LEONARD cello, KEVIN FITZ-GERALD piano

• Paul Tortelier: Sonata Breve, LEONARD and FITZ-GERALD

• Saint-Saëns: The Swan, MISCHA MAISKY cello, RINA DOKSHITSKY piano

• Rachmaninov: Elegie in E minor, Op. 3, No. 1, MAISKY and DOKSHITSKY

• Fauré: Cello Sonata No.2, STEVEN ISSERLIS cello, CONNIE SHIH piano

• Thomas Adès: Lieux Retrouvés, ISSERLIS and SHIH

• Stravinsky: Suite Italienne (arr. Piatigorsky), LAWRENCE LESSER, NATHANIEL ROSEN, JEFFREY SOLOW, and RAPHAEL WALLFISCH cellos

• J.S. Bach: Air on a G String, CELLO CHOIR

• Christopher Rouse: Rapturedux, CELLO CHOIR

Sunday, March 18, 7 p.m.

Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles

Tickets: $111, $105, $85, $55

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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.

Pablo Heras-Casado and Martin Chalifour / Photo courtesy of LA Phil

Martin Chalifour was brilliant in the West Coast premiere of James Matheson’s Violin Concerto on March 2 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The Concerto was co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was premiered in both venues, by different conductors, with different soloists.  The Chicago premiere featured Baird Dodge and Esa-Pekka Salonen; and this Los Angeles premiere with Chalifour, LA Phil principal concertmaster since 1995, was an experience to remember.  Conductor Pablo Heras-Casado returned for his fifth time to Walt Disney Concert Hall; his first appearance was a Green Umbrella experience, and I think he was a good choice to conduct Matheson’s work.

The opening, “Caprice,” began with Chalifour frenetically playing a rapid, repetitive figure.  He was agitated and driven, but still maintained control and direction while humming above the orchestral soundscape with its contrasting large lyric lines and sonic mass.  I could hear echoes of Philip Glass.  The violin would rise and fall above the orchestral level and at times would even move from the foreground to apparently support the weight of the orchestra’s sound.  Chalifour’s melody was full of life and vitality; it was superhuman as he lured the listener with its magically dynamic spinning quality.

The second movement, “Chaconne,” was beautiful and original.  Chalifour’s now-calmed instrument was set against his pianissimo first violins; his lower register was robust in the richness of its tone.  Then we heard him rip the concluding “Dance” with a blinding solo virtuosity.  Eventually a more familiar sound evolved with a syncopated jazz-like quality driven by slapping pizzicatos and culminating in a bold, almost pop-like coda driven by a booming bass drum crescendo in a pounding, absurdist modern manner.  The coda surprised me, but it was effective.  I enjoyed all three movements immensely, each in a unique way, and I thought that Chalifour showed amazing endurance and that he was magnificent in his mastery of this devilishly difficult piece.

The orchestration was large with extra players across the woodwinds and brass sections, and the percussion sported loads of heavy metal, in addition to a piano, celesta and harp.  The most interesting timbres came from string and percussion effects, although the individual tonal capabilities of the woodwinds were overlooked.  However, collectively the woodwinds did produce an interesting three-dimensional effect, with motifs splashing across the stage physically in space and time while controlling the chroma and tone-height of individual notes to give an Escher-like, illusory swirling sensation.

Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) followed without intermission, and as usual, was performed without pauses, except for a dramatic grand pause at the end of the first movement.  Heras-Casado’s tempo was brisk; he generally kept a high level of tension that showed visibly in the language of his hands and neck.   Associate Concertmaster Nathan Cole brought us a wonderfully tender extended cadenza.

The Casual Fridays series features a shorter program without intermission where the performers and audience dress casually and have the opportunity for conversation after the concert.  Matheson talked about the acoustics of the two halls in which his work was played, and he noted that the liveliness of Disney Hall compared to Chicago’s Orchestra Hall allowed him to better hear the details of his orchestration.  The sound was quite good, and the mix between Chalifour and the orchestra was flawless.

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

Julius Reder Carlson, Tereza Stanislav, Steven Vanhauwaert, John Walz and Marcia Dickstein speaking with the audience at Le Salon de Musiques’ February concert / Photo by Henry Lim

Le Salon de Musiques magically transformed the fifth-floor banquet room at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion into an intimate salon space for sharing the joy of their special music on Sunday, Feb. 26.  Music Director Francois Chouchan combined Impressionists Gabriel Fauré and Francis Poulenc with an interesting variant from across the channel by English composer Sir Arnold Bax.

Musicologist Julius Reder Carlson set the context as “oceanic,” and in the discussion afterwards with the performers, harpist Marcia Dickstein was especially informative about the music of Bax.

Flutist Pamela Vliek and pianist Steven Vanhauwaert opened the program with Poulenc’s Flute Sonata with Piano.  Vliek is a graceful flutist, and it was fun to hear her Poulenc interpretation.  Her lower-register sound was rich and her altissimo was also full-timbred and pleasant, never piercing or thin.  Her control was masterful.  She was nimble and articulate, and with Vanhauwaert’s equally light touch, the two of them perfectly captured Poulenc’s personality.

Violist Victoria Miskolczy joined Vliek and Dickstein for Bax’s Elegiac Trio for Flute, Harp and Viola. I was struck by the beautiful timbres of Miskolczy’s instrument, the low-register melodies were distinctly rich and robust.  Dickstein’s harp filled the room with wonderful, flowing ephemeral impressions that enveloped and lifted Bax’s beautiful melodies.  The ensemble breathed as one organic being.

Vanhauwaert and Miskolczy were joined by violinist Tereza Stanislav and cellist John Walz to conclude the program with Gabriel Fauré’s Piano Quartet No.1 in C Minor, Opus 15. The strings were lush in ensemble, and in the scherzo their characteristic sforzandos and intricate dynamic nuances floated above the undercurrents from Vanhauwaert’s piano.  Stanislav’s melodic touch was light and delicate, and I enjoyed her leadership in the ensemble. I really enjoyed Walz’s lyrical adagio passages: they were expressive and engaging; he is a master.

Local luthier Mario Miralles was in the audience because two of his instruments, Miskolczy’s viola and Walz’s cello, were crafted by him.  It was fun to hear sibling instruments.  The rich timbre and radiance of both were magnificent.  I heard Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Concertmaster Martin Chalifour compare his 300-year-old Stradivarius to his modern Miralles violin at a recent meeting of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Acoustical Society of America in the Music Hall at California State University Los Angeles last week, and was truly impressed by the comparison both subjectively and acoustically.

Le Salon de Musiques offers one of the finest chamber music experiences to be found in Los Angeles.   My delight was undeniable: the music was so present and engaging, and there was a palpable sense of community with the inspiring artists and their music.

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

All concerts include food by Patina and Champagne and are held from 4 to 6 p.m one Sunday of every month through May 20, 2012. Visit www.lesalondemusiques.com.

Open the week Monday with the Musica Angelica Benefit Concert of Renaissance and Baroque organ music with Martin Haselböck and soprano Mary Wilson.  Musica Angelica is an important contribution to the Los Angeles arts world and worthy of your support through this benefit concert.  Then later in the week there is another treat for early music enthusiasts from the Redondo Beach Baroque Festival that runs Friday and Saturday with four FREE concerts.

Shift gears on Tuesday with the Mojave Trio playing modern composer Kurt Rhode in the vein of Americana à la Charles Ives. The Takács Quartet comes to Ace Gallery Institute of Contemporary Art to a limited audience on Wednesday, and beginning Thursday conductor Charles Dutoit returns to LA with a fabulous concert of Stravinsky, Debussy and Prokofiev — some of my all-time favorite music. The Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra brings their early-20th-century German Bauhaus modernism to the Harold M. Williams Auditorium at the Getty Center on Saturday.

Where will I be this week?  No doubt about it, I will be listening to Poulenc, Bax, and Fauré at Le Salon de Musiques Sunday afternoon upstairs at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.  Look for my review here.

Read more about these exciting events and their artists and programs below.

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MUSICA ANGELICA BENEFIT RECITAL

MUSICA ANGELICA presents an afternoon with Music Director and organist MARTIN HASELBÖCK and soprano MARY WILSON in a special concert of Baroque music.  Musica Angelica is internationally acclaimed for their historically accurate performances of Renaissance and Baroque music, and this event will be hosted in a private home in the Brentwood area that has an impressive late-17th-century North German-style Baroque tracker organ.

Monday, Feb. 20, 3 p.m.  Private residence in Brentwood. Call for information.

Tickets: $150. Call (310) 458-4504 for more information and to purchase tickets.

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MOJAVE TRIO

The Occidental Guest Artist Recital brings a free concert of the Mojave Trio with Grammy Award-winning artist SARA PARKINS violin, MARGARET PARKINS cello, and GENEVIEVE FEIWEN LEE piano. I particularly like this program, and the Americana aspect of the music will leave you feeling better.

Program

• Charles Ives: Piano Trio

• Kurt Rohde: Four Re-mixes, based on American popular songs from the last 20 years.

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 12:30 p.m.  Bird Studio, Occidental College, Pasadena/Glendale

Free admission. For information, call (323) 259-2785.

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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.

Curator ERIC WILSON has brought many of the most notable ensembles in the genre to the Gallery in this series. TAKÁCS’ recording of the Beethoven quartets received a Grammy and Gramophone Award for the Best Chamber Music Recording In 2002.

Wednesday, Feb. 22, 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 availability and purchase (unreserved general seating).

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DUTOIT CONDUCTS THE LA PHIL

Conductor CHARLES DUTOIT returns this weekend with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a great Program of Stravinsky, Debussy, and Prokoviev.  Do you still have that Valentine buzz going, or maybe you never had it?  It’s time for a little stimulation, from the Suite from Romeo and Juliet floating in La Mer!

Program

• Stravinsky:  Symphonies of Wind Instruments

• Debussy:  La Mer

• Prokofiev: Suite from Romeo and Juliet

Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, 8 p.m.; Friday, Feb. 24, 11 a.m.; Saturday, Feb 25, 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., LA.

For ticket information, call (323) 850-2000.

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4th ANNUAL REDONDO BEACH BAROQUE FESTIVAL

Four Free concerts over two days celebrating the music, composers, and instruments of the Baroque era.

CONCERT SCHEDULE

• Friday, Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m. Selections by J.S. Bach.  TISH ONEY soprano, RIK NOYCE flute, and PHILIP SMITH organ

• Saturday, Feb. 25, 1 p.m. Organ Recital with LYNETTE BALL McGEE.  Selections by J.S. Bach, Scheidt, Walther, Stanley, and Clerambault

• Saturday, Feb. 25, 4 p.m. Los Angeles Recorder Orchestra

• Saturday, Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m. Purcell, J.S. Bach, and Vivaldi – Choral and Vocal Works with combined choirs from Riviera United Methodist Church, Redondo Beach First United Methodist Church, Soloists and Baroque Orchestra, conducted by DAWN BROOKS and LINDA WATERMAN.

Riviera United Methodist Church, 375 Palos Verdes Blvd., Redondo Beach

Freewill donation at the door for all concerts. Free childcare available for ages 0-3 with office reservation. For concert information, call (310) 378-9273.

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PHILADELPHIA VIRTUOSI CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

This Gordon Getty Concert brings the PHILADELPHIA VIRTUOSI CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, known internationally for its programming, repertoire and  recordings since 1991.  Conductor DANIEL SPALDING and the 17 members present a program of early-20th-century German Bauhaus modernism, including selections by Igor Stravinsky, Ernst Krenek, Ferruccio Busoni, Arnold Schoenberg, and George Antheil. The concert complements the exhibition of Lyonel Feininger photographs, 1928-1939.

Saturday, Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m. in the Harold M. Williams Auditorium, The Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, LA

Tickets: $20 / $15 students and seniors. To reserve tickets, call (310) 440-7300 or use the “Get Tickets” button on the website announcement.

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LE SALON DE MUSIQUES

Le Salon de Musiques transforms the fifth-floor banquet room at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion into a wonderful intimate space for sharing the joy of music. The February concert is not to be missed — look for our review next week at Culture Spot LA.

The ensemble includes Steven Vanhauwaert on Piano, Marcia Dickstein on Harp, Pamela Vliek on Flute, Tereza Stanislav on Violin, Victoria Miskolczy on Viola and John Walz on Cello. The performance is accompanied in the style of Le Salon by Champagne, food by Patina and informal conversation introduced by musicologist Julius Reder Carlson.

Program

• Poulenc:  Flute Sonata With Piano

• Arnold Bax:  Elegiac Trio for Flute, Harp and Viola

• Fauré:  Piano Quartet N.1 In C Minor Opus 15

Sunday, Feb. 26, 4 p.m. in the fifth-floor banquet room at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., LA

Tickets: $65/$45 students

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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.