What do you get when you pair a great orchestra with a world-renowned conductor and piano soloist performing glorious music in one of the great concert halls? You get an unforgettable evening.
On a rainy Thursday night at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi led the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in three works, the Concerto for String Orchestra by the Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz, the Piano Concerto in G by Maurice Ravel with the South Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho as soloist, and the Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 by Johannes Brahms as orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg.
The evening opened with Bacewicz’s Concerto for String Orchestra, composed in 1948.
We got to hear the first LA Phil performance of this piece by Bacewicz — called “The First Lady of Polish Music” during her lifetime — thanks to the current resurgence, or reawakening, of interest in female composers. After hearing many of these forgotten or rarely played works, including this Concerto for String Orchestra, one realizes that forces other than musical ones are responsible for female composers not being recognized like their male counterparts. Of course, this practice goes back centuries. After all, for example, Mozart’s and Mendelssohn’s sisters were not only accomplished instrumentalists in their own right, but composers as well. Likewise, Clara Schumann (nee Wieck) was an accomplished composer. But all three dwelled in the shadows of their more famous brothers and husbands. So, it was refreshing to hear this work by Bacewicz.
The Concerto for String Orchestra is a compact, 15-minute, lush and densely orchestrated modern concerto grosso filled with pulsating rhythms and compelling melodies. In the style of older concerto grosses, it featured not only ensemble playing but also solo playing by the principal string players. The piece also allowed the LA Phil strings to showcase their incredible talent. And Järvi led with finesse and confidence. If his goal was to inspire a new generation of admirers of Bacewicz, his powerful interpretation succeeded admirably.
The first half concluded with the American jazz-inspired Piano Concerto in G by Ravel featuring Cho.
Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G has many influences, and one of them is certainly American jazz from the time that Ravel spent in the United States from November 1927 through April 1928. During that time, he met and befriended the American composer George Gershwin. Not only did they form a mutual admiration society, but each influenced the other’s music. The piano Concerto in G is in three movements. The first two movements are fast paced and exciting. In contrast, the second movement begins with a long, heart-wrenching and nostalgic piano solo which lasts for more than three minutes before the orchestra comes in quietly.
Cho won First Prize in the prestigious Chopin International Competition in Warsaw in 2015 when he was just 21 years old, and his career since has followed the same impressive trajectory — with his most recently being named 2024/25 Artist in Residence with the Berliner Philharmoniker. In the Ravel, Cho’s remarkable piano playing emphasized intimacy over showiness, revealing a maturity beyond his young 30 years. His fingers danced lightly over the keyboard with his arms and hands barely moving. He effortlessly moved from the gentle, feather-light playing in the second movement to the amazing speed required in the third movement. And he and Järvi were in perfect sync.
The conclusion brought the audience to their feet, calling Cho out for an encore of Ravel’s À la manière de Chabrier, M. 63/2, one of the many pieces that Cho performed in his all-Ravel recital this past Tuesday evening at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The program concluded with the always-rousing Brahms Piano Quartet orchestrated by Schoenberg. Schoenberg felt that the quartet itself was too heavy on the piano, and the strings did not get a chance to express themselves, so he orchestrated it with a large orchestra, including many percussion instruments, and turned the quartet into a symphonic-like sonic spectacle. It is interesting to note that the LA Phil premiered the orchestrated version of the Brahms Quartet in May 1938 with Otto Klemperer conducting. The reason that the premiere took place in LA was because Schoenberg was living there at the time.
Throughout the concert, but particularly in the Brahms, Järvi showed why he is one of the pre-eminent conductors of our time. With his attention to detail and dynamics, he sculpted all three pieces, and the orchestra responded with some of their most inspired playing.
Finally, kudos to all the LA Phil soloists whose playing shone throughout the evening, including, but not restricted to the four principal string players, and the principal woodwinds, especially Sara Beck on English horn in the Ravel, as well as the principals on horn, trumpet, and harp.
The concert repeats Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon. Don’t miss it!
—Henry Schlinger, Culture Spot LA
For information about upcoming performances, visit www.laphil.com.
Photo of Seong-Jin Cho on Feb. 13, 2025, at Walt Disney Concert Hall courtesy of LA Phil