BACH BY SIMONE DINNERSTEIN

Simone Dinnerstein, piano

Monday, June 18, 8 p.m.

Renée & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa 92626

Part of Baroque Music Festival, Corona del Mar

J.S. BACH: French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV 816

J.S. BACH: Partita No. 2 in C minor, BWV 826

J.S. BACH: English Suite No. 3 in G minor, BWV 808

J.S. BACH: Partita No. 1 in B-flat major, BWV 825

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Gwendolyn Brown as Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau in "Crescent City" / Photo by Asher Kelman

Let’s get this out of the way right up front: Crescent City is a difficult piece, and it’s not for everyone. It’s not being uncharitable to say it’s not even for most. That said, if you fancy yourself a connoisseur of the avant-garde, then this one’s for you! There is a snootful of ideas percolating in composer Anne LeBaron’s new “hyperopera,” and it is worthwhile to make it out to Atwater Crossing if you are interested in what is happening at the bleeding edge of modern theatrical performance art.

When theater of this conceptual density arrives in SoCal, you can safely bet it has something to do with CalArts and this is triply true with Crescent City. LeBaron is a professor of music and theater at the college; librettist Doug Kearney teaches poetry there; and producer Laura Kay Swanson is an alumna. The one non-CalArts figure that figures prominently in this piece is the director, Yuval Sharon, recently moved to LA after four years running New York City’s VOX, a showcase for new American opera. He was also assistant director to Achim Freyer for LA Opera’s recent Ring Cycle, which, for anyone who saw that, will give a clue about his modernist sensibilities. The company he has created with Swanson — The Industry — is devoted to new and experimental opera-like productions.

According to the composer (who coined the term), a hyperopera is a deliberately collaborative work that eschews the idea of one artist largely controlling its creation. Hyperopera loosely follows the conventions of traditional opera — an amalgam of singing, acting and stagecraft — but expects each contributor to create a work that can stand by itself as “art.” In Crescent City we have, of course, the music. In addition, there is the poetry of the libretto, the physical and vocal expression of the actor/singers, the conceptual framework of the director and the six major art installations (created by Mason Cooley, Brianna Gorton, Katie Grinnan, Alice Könitz, Jeff Kopp and Olga Koumoundouros) that comprise the set. The result is a multi-layered opera that sometimes overwhelms with its thick mix of messages.

Here’s the basic setup: In a 25,000-square-foot warehouse, six large art installations are spread out. They represent a graveyard, a hospital, a swamp, a junk heap, a shack and a dive bar. These are available to be viewed as stand-alone artworks during the day. For performances, audiences are positioned on the perimeters of the space with some scattered around the dive bar on floor cushions as well. Along the back walls, there are no chairs and audience members are encouraged to move about to seek other perspectives. Three large screens carry the supertitles of the libretto and also show the main action via a series of stationary cameras plus two mobile cameras carried by silent characters. Sometimes, the images present what is happening onstage, other times they depict films recorded prior with cast members; in this way we are getting another artwork — semi-improvisational video — along with all the rest.

The story line is somewhat abstruse, but involves a mythical city — presumably New Orleans — after a great natural disaster — presumably Hurricane Katrina. The bad floodwaters have resurrected Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau (played by contralto Gwendolyn Brown), who emerges from her tomb to help save the city. The ancient Voodoo spirits have also been loosed upon the ruined landscape, and together, like Diogenes, they seek amid the roaming hustlers, drug dealers and debauchés an honest man to see if the city is worth redeeming. They ultimately find him (The Good Man is played by bass/baritone Cedric Berry), but he too turns out to be morally compromised, and the future of the city remains unclear.

The narrative aspect of Crescent City appears to have less emphasis than the process of “making theater,” so no need for concern if you feel like you are not getting it. It demands a lot of attention to successfully sort out all the threads that are presented; you find your eyes darting from the monitors, to the right, to the left, trying to take in everything that is happening. More compelling than the sluggish story line is the close physical presence of the singer/performers. You can really feel the power of their voices as they pass within a few feet of you. This is an experience you will never get at a traditional, big-production opera.

Every opera is distinguished by its music, and Crescent City is no exception. LeBaron has cooked up a complex, exotic, polyrhythmic gumbo of sound played by a live orchestra of 16, including Timur and his Dime Museum. Included are clarinet, piano, banjo, accordion, chromelodion, percussion and shakuhachi, as well as tuba, trombone and trumpet to help keep us rooted in a distinctly New Orleans vibe. As the movements play out, you can hear bits of atonal jazz, zydeco, electronica, waltz, twelve-tone and barrelhouse, and I’m sure much more that I could not even guess. A little something for everyone. Synthesizers create a chaotic accompaniment of buzzes, screeches and clashing, discordant non-Western temperaments. It’s Preservation Hall on acid. Adding to the sense of dislocation, the notes the singers intone often do not follow the pitch of the music in any traditional fashion; the musical intervals are alien and unexpected. This chaotic, cockeyed, cacophonous music is a good aural representation of what is happening in Crescent City, but don’t expect to leave the theater humming anything.

There is an unrelenting darkness and pessimism that pervades the production. Humor, if it is to be found at all, is just grim irony. The city is nearly deserted except for revelers and lowlifes. Water — normally life-giving — becomes a malevolent force, the cause of drowning, capsizing and ruination of families. Occasional snatches of other works surface — the dance of death from Bergman’s Seventh Seal and the bierkeller scene from Cabaret come to mind — highlighting the allusive “meta” nature of the production.

While Crescent City is a serious piece and it is obvious a lot of work and thought has gone into it, both the direction and the music can feel somewhat academic and theoretical at times. Some things seem to be done just for the sake of seeming clever: Behold, Mongolian time signatures combined with Indonesian gamelan scales. Move around, audience, and change your perspective so you can see… the other side of an object you have already seen. Here is Brecht, there is Pirandello. None of the theatrical devices are exactly new, but they are certainly stacked high. In the end, there seems to be a lot of sound and fury, signifying… what, exactly? Any meaning derived is strictly up to the individual.

Even if all these disparate parts don’t hang together as well as they might, the artists at work here are to be applauded for creating one possible way forward from the ossified, if enjoyable, canon of traditional opera. Some of the images are indelible, and it is a production you will not soon forget. And that is saying something in today’s opera repertoire.

—David Maurer, Culture Spot LA

The Industry presents its inaugural production, Crescent City, through May 27 at Atwater Crossing, 3245 Casitas Ave., LA 90039. Show times are Thursdays through Sundays at 8 p.m. For more information, visit http://theindustryla.org. For tickets, visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/222549.

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.

Soprano Ailyn Perez (Mimi) and tenor Stephen Costello (Rodolfo) in LA Opera's production of Puccini's "La Bohème" / Photo by Robert Millard for LA Opera

With La Bohème, Puccini sought to write an opera in the fashionable verismo style that took as its subject everyday life and attempted to treat it in a realistic manner. While his opera dates from the mid-1890s, his source material was a series of stories written in the 1840s by Henri Murger, which depicted real people and real places in Paris’ Left Bank — Bohemia, as it was known. The Paris of this era was one before the wide tree-lined boulevards, good sewage and paving. In LA Opera’s revival production, the detailed sets provide an image of 19th-century Bohemia that is “realistic” in its ramshackle appearance and utter impoverishment, but the opera’s internal logic can be a bit puzzling in other ways.

You might wonder what a bunch of Italians — speaking Italian — are doing in 1840s Paris. Or you may be confused by how the seemingly greatest love of all time has collapsed a matter of minutes later. No matter, merely details. It is refreshing, however, to see a cast of La Bohème that is youthful enough to be believable. Too often, we see geriatric 50-somethings trying to make us believe that they are the struggling young romantics that the opera depicts. Suspending disbelief can be a chore in these cases.

The uniformly young artists we see onstage here may have something to do with LA Opera’s recent penchant (necessity?) for eschewing big-name stars (excepting LA Opera’s own Plácido Domingo) in favor of lesser-known or emerging opera voices. At least three of the principal singers here have come out of the Domingo-Thornton Young Artists program. Of particular note is Janai Brugger, the 2012 winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, who is remarkably good as Musetta. Her voice is powerful and hall-filling, and I was particularly struck by her acting. Flirty one minute and petulant the next, she is just plain fun to watch. Please be aware, though, that she shares this role with another singer, the striking Valentina Fleer.

Something else unusual about the cast is the fact that the two main characters —Rodolfo and Mimi, played by Stephen Costello and Ailyn Perez — are husband and wife in real life. Their easy chemistry and solid vocal performances are another tick in the plus column for this production. I have to say, even though I shrink from clowns in general, I enjoyed watching the character of Parpignol, the toy vendor, who is presented as an orange-haired, face-painted scarecrow.

Director Gregory Fortner has made some nice tweaks to this production. Act II at the Cafe Momus is a wonderful riot of color, confetti, crowds and confusion that reaffirms just what it is about this opera that makes it one of the most popular of all time. Only a curmudgeon could be unmoved by all the charivari. Perhaps the strongest moment of all comes at the end of Act III where there is a masterful vocal and dramatic interplay between Rodolfo and Mimi, who are pledging eternal love, and Marcello and Musetta, who are concurrently breaking up. I also like the effect, used at least twice, of actors walking offstage as they complete their duets at the end of scenes, leaving us with a nicely modulated fade-out.

As always, Puccini’s music is charming and easy to like. Conductor Patrick Summers, in his LA Opera debut, understands the drama in the music and uses his percussionist to great effect with impressive use of the thunderous large (bass) tympani. Side note for music buffs: This is one of the few “classic” operas that you can hear on disc with its original conductor. It was a young Arturo Toscanini who was on stage in the 1896 debut in Turin, and his 1946 RCA Victor recording of this opera is still available.

By all means, get out to see La Bohème and bring your less-opera-savvy friends — they will very likely enjoy it too. In the meantime, I’ll be at the Cafe Momus, nursing an absinthe.

—David Maurer, Culture Spot LA

LA Opera’s La Bohème is at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion through June 2. Visit www.laopera.com.

The New York Philharmonic with Music Director Alan Gilbert debuted at Disney Hall on May 9, 2012. / Photo courtesy of LA Phil

Shocking as it may seem, although many of the world’s great orchestras have visited Walt Disney Concert Hall in the almost nine years since it officially opened, the New York Philharmonic hasn’t been one of them. That is, until May 9 when they came to town led by their fairly recently appointed music director, Alan Gilbert. (Gilbert and Gustavo Dudamel became directors of their respective orchestras at about the same time in 2009. The scuttle was that the NY Phil was also interested in Dudamel before LA Philharmonic Association President Deborah Borda scooped him up.) There was eager anticipation in the air not only about the NY Phil, but also about Gilbert. Conscious or not, on this evening Angelenos wanted to compare their young music director with ours (who sat in the audience for the first half of the concert).

The program consisted of three works, including the Carnival Overture by Dvorák; the West Coast premiere of the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Finnish composer and NY Phil Composer in Residence Magnus Lindberg, with soloist and frequent Disney Hall guest Yefim Bronfman; and the Symphony No. 4 in F minor by Tchaikovsky.

The concert opened with the Carnival Overture, which has been performed twice in Disney Hall this season (The other time was by Neeme Järvi and the LA Phil). Gilbert’s interpretation was interesting in that he seemed to downplay the horns, trumpets, and trombones in favor of a stronger string presence in this otherwise brassy showpiece. In fact, at times I had to strain to hear the trumpets and trombones, especially in the last section where they are usually more present. Gilbert also played with the tempo, dramatically slowing it down in the Andantino con moto section, with very nice solo playing by the principal flutist Robert Langevin, principal English horn player Philip Myers, and Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow, and then speeding it up more than is marked in the score in the coda. Although there were moments of brilliance, the overall effect was less than what one would expect from such a rousing concert overture.

It is difficult to comment on a newly composed piece, especially a piano concerto which, as Lindberg himself has observed “is one of those genres that has such a load of history.” Indeed. One thinks immediately of the piano concertos of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Lindberg’s second concerto certainly matches many of those in its length, orchestration, and demands on the soloist, which are nothing short of Herculean. However, as a traditional listener, I looked, mostly in vain, for some melody or phrase to latch on to. There were certainly tonal motives that were repeated. And the concerto, while structurally modern, does contain recognizable tempos. After all is said and done, one probably has to listen to such a work several times before fully appreciating it, and that is unlikely to happen for most listeners.

What can be said, however, is that whether or not one understood or even liked the concerto, Bronfman’s performance was astounding. The power of Bronfman’s bear-like stature was transferred to his playing, especially in the frequent forte chords in the low registers. It was all the more impressive because Bronfman was sight-reading the piano part, having premiered it with the NY Phil only six days earlier.

Other than Bronfman’s playing, the highlight of the evening was the Tchaikovsky. This, I think, is what the audience expected and what they got: a sensitive but, at the same time, riveting performance of this warhorse symphony.

Tchaikovsky dedicated the symphony A mon meilleur ami (To my best friend), referring, of course, to his patron, Nadezhda von Meck, whom he never met. As Tchaikovsky noted, the symphony centers around the first movement, which he described as “the best movement” and the one which introduces “the seed of the whole symphony”: Fate.

Gilbert and his band gave the Disney Hall audience a rendition that would be difficult to match. He crafted the first movement expertly, masterfully contrasting the powerful fateful theme at the beginning with the more delicate sections, which he caressed with loving care, bringing the movement to a rousing conclusion. The other three, shorter movements were also gems each in their own right. Again, Gilbert took some liberties with the tempos, but it worked marvelously. And, unlike in the Dvorák, the brass were bold and loud just as Tchaikovsky intended.

After several curtain calls, Gilbert reappeared and launched into an encore version of the Corsair Overture by Berlioz, played livelier than usual, but intended to capitalize on the audience’s already-giddy mood.

The verdict based on this performance is that Gilbert has taken the oldest orchestra in the country, and one of the only orchestras with many first chairs with international name recognition, and made it sound young and vibrant.

If any of the concertgoers in the audience thought that New Yorkers got the short end of the stick by not landing Dudamel and settling for Gilbert, the performance last night demonstrated that both the LA Phil and the NY Phil hit the jackpot with their respective young conductors.

—Henry Schlinger, Culture Spot LA

Sir Simon Rattle / Photo courtesy of LA Phil

Sir Simon Rattle returned to Los Angeles this past weekend to conduct the LA Philharmonic in an ambitious program including Atmosphères by György Ligeti, the Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin by Wagner, the Rückert-Lieder by Mahler featuring mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozená, and the Symphony No. 9 in D minor by Bruckner.

Rattle, who was last in LA in 2009 with his house band, the Berlin Philharmonic, began the program on Saturday, May 5, with the Ligeti, in which the composer replaces traditional musical form with tone clusters where several consecutive notes on a scale are played simultaneously. As has been noted many times, the piece was used by Stanley Kubrick for the monolith and the deep space scenes in his movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Despite the absence of harmony or melody in the piece, the LA Phil’s performance was spellbinding.

Rattle then transitioned into the Wagner without interruption (interestingly, Vladimir Jurowski had done something similar in a 2008 concert with the London Philharmonic transitioning from Atmosphères to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring), which proved to be very effective not only because it prevented the audience from applauding, but also because the waning sounds of the high violins in the Ligeti were not unlike the opening notes played by the violins in the Wagner, giving the impression that the two pieces were two parts of a whole. Rattle and the LA Phil offered a luscious, but controlled rendition of the Lohengrin Prelude which slowly moves, over its eight-minute length, from the quietest of strings to a cymbal-crashing crescendo with the entire orchestra before fading back to end, as it began, with the violins playing in the high registers.

With the almost one-hour Bruckner ninth symphony on the second half of the program, the Ligeti and Wagner would have been sufficient musical fare for a first half. But Rattle wasn’t through just yet. He then brought out mezzo-soprano (and his wife) Kozená for a performance of the Rückert-Lieder. These brief songs, sparsely orchestrated by Mahler and intimately rendered by Rattle, were sung brilliantly and with just the right emotion by Kozená. Her voice blended seamlessly with the orchestra, and Rattle made sure her singing could be heard at all times.

Rattle concluded the concert with a moving performance of Bruckner’s last, and unfinished, symphony. Interestingly, throughout most of the piece, Rattle focused his attention on the string sections, instead of cueing the many woodwind and horn entrances. The result was a performance with an increased sense of despair and urgency.

Bruckner’s strong religious conviction can be gleaned from several of his symphonies, but none more so than the ninth, which was dedicated to “dem leiben Gott” (“to the beloved God”). Perhaps it was because he knew he was dying and might not get to finish it — hence, his comment about the third movement being his “farewell to life,” and the markings of Feierlich (solemn) in the first and third movements. As Richard Lehnert recently wrote on Stereophile.com in contemplating the addition of Bruckner’s extensive sketches of a fourth movement, “What earthly music could possibly follow such an embodiment in sound of pain and suffering, followed by hard-won peace fading out at the last into barely audible acceptance?”

Indeed, one could ask this question following the ravishing performance on Saturday night by Rattle and the LA Phil. In fact, even applause following the last sustained notes in the horns seemed sacrilegious.

Rattle had the LA Phil playing at their very best on Saturday night, and the orchestra acknowledged their appreciation when they stomped their feet during his final curtain call.

In this video, hear Sir Simon Rattle talk about the “new” fourth movement of Bruckner’s ninth symphony, his recording of which is slated to be available later this month:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Jlgh_gpSs&feature=player_embedded

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

Tuesday, May 8, 8 p.m.

Pre-concert lecture by Randy Polevoi at 7 p.m.

Renée & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall

Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall

615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa  92626

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC

Alan Gilbert, conductor

Yefim Bronfman, piano

Program:

BERLIOZ: Le Corsaire Overture

BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37

DEBUSSY: La Mer

RAVEL: La Valse

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Saturday, April 28, 8 p.m.

Pre-concert lecture by Dr. John Koegel at 7 p.m.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall

615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa  92626

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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.