On Sunday night, British organist Anna Lapwood rocked Walt Disney Concert Hall with an out-of-this-world organ recital. You heard me right: an organ recital. It was out of this world not only because she played several arrangements of Hans Zimmer’s music from the movie Interstellar, in addition to other thematically related pieces, but also because of her remarkable playing on the incredible organ at WDCH and her personality engaging with the audience.
The evening began with cheers from the audience when Lapwood walked on stage. Apparently, she was quite well-known among many of those in attendance. Lapwood began by picking up a microphone and telling the audience what this reviewer felt: amazement that an organ recital could pack WDCH! Lapwood then introduced all of the works that she would play, as well as changes and modifications to the program. Her rationale for changing the program was that since she had been rehearsing on the WDCH organ — which she could only do on the previous three evenings from 8 p.m. until early morning — she found that the organ was so amazing and could do so many things, that she wanted to add some works that she thought would really showcase the organ and the pieces.
The 29-year-old Lapwood is a petite powerhouse. She was as excited to be in WDCH playing its fabulous organ as the audience was to be there. She pranced around the stage twirling like a ballerina in order to acknowledge and talk to the audience that surrounded her. She made jokes and created an atmosphere of intimacy that had the audience eating out of her hand. And of course, her organ playing was superb. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a classical musician enjoy performing quite as much as Lapwood did on Sunday evening. Also, as she stated at the end of the concert, this was her last performance on this particular tour; and she made sure it was special.
Lapwood played several contemporary pieces — many written by women — some composed for her, and some not, but all of which she had a special connection to. They included Star Fantasy by Kristina Arakelyan and Olivia Belli’s LiminaLuminus. In addition to those, she performed An Elf on a Moonbeam by the American composer Florence Price, Debussy’s Clair de lune (arranged by Lapwood) and Maurice Duruflé’s Prélude et fugue sur le nom d’Alain op. 7. In addition, Lapwood performed the Ave Maria by Bach/Gounod and two of the Four Sea Interludes — Dawn and Sunday Morning — from the Opera Peter Grimes by Britten. Lapwood also played other music from film scores that she transcribed for organ, including The Bells of Notre Dame from The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Alan Menken — which she programmed at the last minute when she discovered that the WDCH organ had bells! — and for her encore, she performed Test Drive from How to Train Your Dragon by John Powell.
Throughout the concert, Lapwood pulled sounds from the WDCH organ probably few in the audience had ever heard or even thought were possible. It was clear that three all-nighters rehearsing on the organ paid off handsomely; with her newly acquired intimate knowledge of the organ, she was able to use the organ’s full capabilities to best convey the mood of every piece. In addition to the bells, the organ at times sounded like a celeste, a harp — of which Lapwood is an expert player — and other instruments. Lapwood also arranged for the lights in Disney Hall to reflect the mood of the various pieces, by changing colors and shimmering at times. She even asked members of the audience to shine their phone flashlights during one of her transcriptions of music from Interstellar. It was a very moving experience, especially inside this particularly beautiful hall.
At the conclusion of each piece, Lapwood bounced off the stool like an excited kid at a birthday party. It was clear that she shared the same joy in the music that the audience did.
After her encore, the builder of the WDCH organ, Manuel Rosales, came onto the stage to hand flowers to Lapwood. As he approached, she bowed to him, showing her appreciation for what he had given her that she could use, in turn, to bring music to the audience.
It was a truly magical evening, with great music from both films and classics, and great organ playing on an amazing instrument in an acoustically and visually beautiful venue by a performer whose own thrill and excitement in playing infected the entire audience. If there was any disappointment — and it was a small one — it was that Lapwood didn’t perform the Bach Prelude and Fugue in A major, BWV 536, which was originally programmed.
Obviously not every classical musician can behave the way Lapwood did by engaging the audience with stories and humor. But she, and other young performers (e.g., Ray Chen — see our review of his recital at https://culturespotla.com/ray-chen-and-julio-elizalde-rock-at-walt-disney-concert-hall/), are a breath of fresh air and something that might attract young people to the classical concert hall.
—Henry Schlinger, Culture Spot LA
For information about upcoming concerts, visit www.laphil.com.
Photo credit: Anna Lapwood / Photo courtesy of the artist’s website