NEWS AND LINKS: Esa-Pekka Salonen wins 2012 Grawemeyer Award for his Violin Concerto

By Robert D. Thomas

Music Critic

Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily
News

______________________

 

56886-SalonenImage.jpg

When Esa-Pekka Salonen stepped down as music director of the
Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009, it ostensibly was to devote more time to
composing. His output has been pretty meager in the last two years (just two
short pieces) but Salonen has won the 2012 University of Louisville Grawemeyer
Award for Music Composition for his Violin Concerto, which was premiered during
Salonen’s final weeks as LAPO music director that spring. The award, which
includes a $100,000 cash prize, is one of the most prestigious in classical
music.

 

The official release from the university is HERE. Mark Swed has an article on the Los Angeles Times Web site HERE. Among other things, Swed notes
that the L.A. Phil becomes the only orchestra to have commissioned and
premiered two Grawemeyer Award compositions (Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs in 2005 was the other) and
Salonen is the only conductor to have led the first performances of two winning
scores (Neruda Songs and his own
concerto, which featured Leila Josefowicz as soloist).

 

When the Violin Concerto was premiered in April 2009, I wrote
that it was  “a stunning violin
concerto, brilliant played by 31-year-old Leila Josefowicz, who was born in
Toronto but grew up in Los Angeles and studied with Ronald Lipsett at The
Colburn School.” (My entire review is HERE).

 

For what it’s worth I actually thought Salonen’s Piano
Concerto, written in 2007, was a better piece but both are terrific. They
joined a list of notable Salonen compositions that included L.A Variations (written in 1996) and Wing on Wing, which was composed for the
opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2004.

_______________________

 

(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved.
Portions may be quoted with attribution.

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AROUND TOWN/MUSIC: Orchestras in the holiday season

By Robert D. Thomas

Music Critic

Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily
News

A shorter version of
this column published today in the above papers.

______________________

 

Because the holiday season is dominated by choral music,
orchestras have, in the past, tended to shy away from programs in December
unless they were holiday-theme oriented (e.g., Handel’s Messiah). This year, things are different.

 

Esa-Pekka Salonen, who music director of the Los Angeles
Philharmonic for 17 years, is in town for two weeks of concerts with his old
band (his L.A. Phil title is now Conductor Laureate). Today he’s leading
Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 2 and Piano Concerto No. 2, with an old
friend, Emmanuel Ax, soloing in the concerto (which, despite its number, was
actually the first piano concerto that Beethoven wrote).

 

The second half of the program is Sirens by Swedish composer Anders Hillborg. Soprano Hila Plitmann
and mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter join the orchestra and Los Angeles
Master Chorale in the work, which is based on The Siren Song from Homer’s The
Odyssey
and is receiving its world premiere this weekend. (Read my review
of Friday’s performance HERE.)

 

Salonen is leading another world premiere Friday, Saturday
and next Sunday: the Prologue to Shostakovich’s Orango, an unfinished satirical opera that the composer sketched in
1932 while he was writing his opera Lady
Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
. Only the 40-minute Prologue was
completed in piano vocal score, which was discovered in 2006. The Phil, a large
group of soloists, and the Master Chorale will present the work, orchestrated
by English composer Gerard McBurney and staged by Peter Sellars. The program
concludes with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 4.  I have more on this concert at the bottom of the review
posted above and I’ll add more details on my “Five-Spot” post on Thursday.

 

On Dec. 8, 9 and 10, Thomas Wilkins — principal conductor of
the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra — leads the Phil in a program of movie music as
the orchestra’s contribution to the “Pacific Standard Time” series under the
auspices of the Getty Museum. Information: www.laphil.com

 

Elsewhere on the orchestral front:

The Pasadena
Symphony
will get into the holiday spirit with a candlelight program
Saturday at 7 p.m. at All Saints Church, Pasadena. Grant Cooper, artistic
director and conductor of the West Virginia Symphony, will conduct the PSO,
vocalist Lisa Vroman, the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Donald Brinegar
Singers and L.A. Bronze (a handbell ensemble) in an eclectic program of holiday
music. Information:
www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org

 

The Colburn
Orchestra
continues its season next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Ambassador
Auditorium as guest conductor Gerard Schwarz leads the ensemble in Mahler’s
Symphony No. 5 and Takemitsu’s From Me
Flows What You Call Time,
with a local percussion ensemble, Smoke and
Mirrors, as soloists in the Takemitsu piece. For Schwarz, it’s something of a
homecoming. Prior to becoming music director of the Seattle Symphony, Schwarz
held a similar position with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, which used to
perform in Ambassador. Information: www.colburnschool.edu

 

Music Director Jeffrey Kahane will lead his Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra on Dec.
10 at the Alex Theater in Glendale and 11 at Royce Hall, UCLA. Cellist Ralph
Kirshbaum will be the soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme for cello and orchestra. The program
also includes music by Ravel, Respighi and Thomas Ads. Information: www.laco.org

_______________________

 

(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved.
Portions may be quoted with attribution.

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OVERNIGHT REVIEW: Esa-Pekka Salonen and Los Angeles Philharmonic premiere Hillborg’s “Sirens” at Walt Disney Concert Hall

By Robert D. Thomas

Music Critic

Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily
News

______________________

 

Los Angeles
Philharmonic; Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 2; Piano Concerto No. 2 (Emmanuel
Ax, soloist)

Hillborg: Sirens (Hila
Plitmann and Anne Sofie von Otter, soloists; Los Angeles Master Chorale)

Friday, November 25, 2011 Walt Disney Concert Hall

Next concerts: Tonight at 8; tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Info: www.laphil.com

______________________

 

Esa-Pekka Salonen, who was the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s
music director from 1992-2009 and is now its conductor laureate, returned home
to Walt Disney Concert Hall (which he was instrumental in getting built) for
the first of two programs this season. During both weeks, he’s leading a world
premiere — last night it was Sirens, a
33-minute piece by Swedish composer Anders Hillborg. Next week it’s the
recently discovered prologue to an unfinished Shostakovich opera (more in Hemidemisemiquavers below).

 

Sirens is based on
a section of Homer’s The Odyssey, although
in the preconcert lecture Hillborg revealed that he composed some of the music
first and then found a text that seemed to fit what he had written. As the
composer explained in the program magazine: “In Greek mythology, the Sirens
were dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses who lured sailors with
their enchanting music and voices to come to the rocky coast of their island,
where they would kill them. In Homer’s tale, Ulysses — curious as to what the
Sirens sound like — orders his crew to plug their ears with beeswax and tie him
to the mast, not to release him no matter how much he begs, while their boat is
passing the island of the Sirens. In this way he will be able to hear their
deadly singing, which no man has heard and survived.”

 

Hillborg uses soprano Hila Plitmann, mezzo-soprano Anne
Sofie von Otter and the Los Angeles Master Chorale to portray the Sirens, who
flatter Ulysses’ ego, appeal to his mind and soul, and sing seductively
(Hillborg uses English translations of The
Sirens Song
from The Odyssey, along
with additional text that he wrote; the words were projected as supertitles).

 

Underneath all of this, the orchestra delivers wave after
wave of sound, sometimes melodic, occasionally dissonant, with percussion and
piano interjecting sharp spikes into the tonal wash. The Master Chorale singers
also whistle, whisper and produce other sound effects.

 

Overall the effect was hypnotic; in the warm hall there were
undoubtedly a few people lulled to sleep. Von Otter (who used a score) and
Plitmann (who didn’t) were positioned on either side of Salonen conducted with
a score, as is almost always the case, but didn’t use a baton for the Hillborg
piece. The percussion section (not large by the standard of Hillborg’s
contemporaries) was notable for not including timpani. Lighting changes and
even a tinkling cell phone at the end added to the effect.

 

Plitmann’s radiant soprano voice blended well with von
Otter’s creamy mezzo; the two often sang extremely close, intertwined
harmonies. Overall, I found Sirens to
be an interesting — if not fully compelling — rendition of the Sirens story. After the performance,
Hillborg came onstage to bask in the sustained applause, which was extended to
all concerned.

 

The audience noticeably thinned out for Sirens as opposed to the all-Beethoven first half of the program,
which began with Salonen leading a dramatic reading of the second Leonore Overture (one of four overtures
that Beethoven composed for his only opera, Fidelio).
Salonen made effective use of the work’s silences, particularly in the
opening measures (when Disney Hall is silent, the effect can be magical) and
Chris Still was the offstage trumpeter.

 

To these ears, at least, the highlight of the evening was
Emmanuel Ax’s work as soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (which,
despite its number, was really the first of the five piano concerti that
Beethoven wrote). Ax’s crystalline tone was perfect for his concept of this
piece, which alludes firmly to both Mozart and Haydn. Every phrase — indeed,
every note — was carefully thought out and lovingly sculpted — the entire
performance was a study in lyrical elegance.

 

Salonen enforced brisk tempos throughout and the orchestra
accompanied Ax sensitively. After sustained applause, Ax delivered a gentle,
lyrical encore: Schumann’s Fantasiestcke,
Op. 12, No. 1

_______________________

 

Hemidemisemiquavers:

Lucinda Carver’s preconcert lecture was longer than usual
(45 minutes), partly because Hillborg showed up unexpectedly to join in. Among
his musical influences, Hillborg listed Steve Reich and Brian Wilson (of the
Beach Boys).

Sirens was the
fourth Hillborg piece to be played by the L.A. Phil. One of those was Eleven Gates, which Salonen and the Phil
premiered in 2006. That, said Hillborg, was when he met Betty Freeman, the
local philanthropist who commissioned more than 400 new works over the last 40
years of her life. Hillborg dedicated Sirens
to both Salonen and Freeman.

When Salonen retired as the Phil’s music director, one of
the stated reasons was to allow him to devote more time to composing. So far,
he’s delivered just a couple of pieces: Dona
Nobis Pacem,
a five-minute unaccompanied work for female voices that the
Los Angeles Children’s Chorus sang earlier this year in a tribute concert to
Ernest Fleischmann, and Nyx, a
17-minute work for orchestra that was premiered last February in Paris and in
October by the Atlanta Symphony.

Next week’s concerts (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) will
feature the world premiere of the Prologue to Orango by Shostakovich. The Phil describes this work thusly: “Orango is an unfinished satirical opera
by Shostakovich, sketched [in 1932] while he was writing Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.
He and his librettists conceived ‘a political lampoon against the bourgeois
press,’ concerning a human-ape hybrid. Of the projected Prologue and three
acts, only the 40-minute Prologue was completed, in piano vocal score, which
was just discovered in 2006.”  Read
the complete program note HERE.

 

The Prologue includes parts for 10 soloists and the Los
Angeles Master Chorale. It is being staged by Peter Sellars with lighting by
Ben Zamora. Gerald McBurney, who orchestrated the prologue, will offer a
preconcert lecture an hour before each program. 

 

A Los Angeles Times article
on the piece is HERE.

 

The second half of the program will be Shostakovich’s
Symphony No. 4, which was composed just a few years after Orango. This was the symphony that was not played for 25 years
after it was written, a consequence of the composer’s run-in with Soviet
authorities over Lady Macbeth of the
Mtsensk District.
Laurel E. Fay’s program note says that one of the two
conductors who were eager to conduct the symphony was Otto Klemperer, who at
the time was the L.A. Phil’s music director. Whether the symphony would have
been played in L.A. isn’t spelled out; ultimately the LAPO premiere would not
take place until 1989 under the baton of Andr Previn. (Read the full program note
HERE).

 

Expect next week’s program to last a bit longer than a
normal concert. The Prologue to Orango
is 40 minutes long and the symphony, one of Shostakovich’s longest, takes an
hour. The orchestration for the symphony (2 piccolos, 4 flutes, 4 oboes (4th =
English horn), 4 clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, 8 horns, 4
trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 tubas, 2 timpani, percussion (bass drum, castanets,
cymbals, orchestra bells, snare drum, tam-tam, triangle, xylophone), 2 harps,
celesta, and strings) is the largest of Shostakovich’s 15 symphonies.

_______________________

 

(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved.
Portions may be quoted with attribution.

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Five-Spot: What caught my eye on November 24, 2011

By Robert D. Thomas

Music Critic

Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily
News

______________________

 

Normally each Thursday morning, I list five events that peak
my interest, including (ideally) at least one with free admission (or, at a minimum,
inexpensive tickets). However, because of the Thanksgiving holidays, I’ve only
found two events — admittedly important ones — for this week’s listing.
However, there are also some upcoming events that are worth adding to your
calendars.

______________________

 

Tomorrow and
Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Los Angeles
Philharmonic: Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to the Phil

 

56842-Salonen.jpg

Whether it’s a case of “absence makes the heart grow fonder”
or the fact that the L.A. Phil always seems to play with extra fervor under the
baton of its former music director, whenever Esa-Pekka Salonen (pictured right) comes “home” to conduct
the LAPO it’s a special occasion. For those new in town or to classical music,
the now-53-year-old Finnish-born Salonen was the Phil’s music director for 17
seasons (1992-2009), the longest tenure among the 11 people to hold the
position.

 

This weekend is the first of two consecutive Salonen
programs: Beethoven’s Lenore Overture, No.
2 and Piano Concerto No. 2, along with the world premiere of Sirens by Swedish composer Anders
Hilborg.

 

Sirens is scored
for large orchestra, mixed chorus (the Los Angeles Master Chorale), and two
soloists: soprano Hila Plitmann and mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter. The 30+
minute piece was commissioned by the late Betty Freeman and dedicated both to
her and to the conductor. Salonen has a three-minute video on his Web site
(LINK) where he discusses the work’s genesis and speaks lovingly of Freeman,
who he described as “sorely missed and a great supporter of new music.”

 

Hilborg writes of the piece: “In Greek mythology, the Sirens were murderous bird-women who used
their voices to lure sailors to their island. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Ulysses orders his crew to
plug their ears and tie him to the mast so he will be able to hear, and
survive, the deadly singing.

The calm sea starts stirring, ghostlike whispers emerge
from the depths, strange fragmented voices agitate the surface. The scene
suddenly clears and the Sirens appear.

The Sirens try to lure Ulysses in numerous ways: they
flatter his ego; they appeal to his mind and soul, promising him they’ll
disclose all the secrets of the world; and they sing seductively, arousing him.

Then the Sirens’ true monstrous identity is revealed, as
their powerful singing transforms into horrendous screaming. The hallucination
dissolves and all reverts back to calm sea, as Ulysses’ vessel sails out of danger.”

 

Read the complete program note HERE.

 

Emanuel Ax, a long-time collaborator with both Salonen and
the Phil, will be the soloist in the concerto, which (despite its number) was
actually the first piano concerto that Beethoven composed. Well-known
harpsichordist and conductor Lucinda Carver will deliver a lecture an hour
before each concert.

 

Concert information: www.laphil.org

 

Friday at 9 p.m. on
PBSSoCal TV (aka KOCE)

Los Angeles Opera’s
production of Daniel Catn’s Il Postino

56843-Domingo-Castro.jpg

The PBS series Great
Performances
taped the world premiere of Il Postino (The Postman) by Southern California composer Daniel
Catn. Plcido Domingo stars as Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, Charles Castronovo
sings the title role, and Grant Gerson conducts.

 

The opera was based on Ardiente
Pacienca (Burning Patience),
a 1985 novella by Antonio Skrmeta,
and the award-winning (and beloved by many) 1994 film, Il Postino, by Michael Radford, but
Catn turned it into his own very special and, as it turned out, final work
(the composer died unexpectedly last April). A link to the laudatory reviews,
including mine, is HERE.

 

Information (including
a video preview clip): www.pbsssocal.org

_______________________________

 

For the “futures” section of your calendar:

 

The Metropolitan Opera had originally scheduled two “Live in
HD” telecasts for December: Handel’s Rodelinda,
starring Rene Fleming with Harry Bicket conducting, on Dec. 3; and
Gounod’s Faust, with Jonas Kaufman in
the title role and Yannick Nzet-Sguin conducting a new production, on Dec.
10.

 

The company has added two “encore” presentations (i.e.,
previously recorded telecasts), both of which are worth attending: Mozart’s The Magic Flute on Wed., Dec. 21 at 6:30
p.m. and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel
the following evening. There are several things that make these productions
noteworthy:

They’re short (Magic
Flute
clocks in at 110 minutes and Hansel
and Gretel
runs 123 minutes) as opposed to Rodelinda and Faust, both
of which are more than four hours in length.

They’re both sung in English.

They’re both labeled as “family friendly.” The Magic Flute was staged by Julie Taymor
with the same sort of puppet and fantasy magic that characterized her
production of The Lion King. The
fairy tale setting of Hansel and Gretel is
equally enchanting. Both are great for adults and kids alike.

 

A couple of added bonuses:

Hansel and Gretel
was one of the last roles (The Witch) for the great English tenor, Philip
Landridge, who died on March 5, 2010 just a few months after this production
aired.

The Magic Flute
was conducted by James Levine and it’s no telling how long it will be before we
see the Met’s music director back in the pit (he’s recovering from back
surgery).

 

One downside: you’re going to have a hard time finding a
theater locally for Hansel and Gretel, at
least as of this writing. While The Magic
Flute
will be shown at the Alhambra Renaissance 14, Covina 17 and Puente
Hills 20, the closest theater (to me) for Hansel
and Gretel
is the Cinemark 14 in Long Beach, which does have the advantage
of being within walking distance of the Metro Blue Line stations at 1st
St. and the Long Beach Transit Mall.

 

Information: www.metoperafamily.org

_______________________

 

(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved.
Portions may be quoted with attribution.

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NEWS: Former L.A. Phil Associate Concermaster Irving Geller dies at age 85

By Robert D. Thomas

Music Critic

Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily
News

 

Irving Geller, who served as associate concertmaster of the
Los Angeles Philharmonic for nearly 25 years in a career that spanned nearly a
half-century with the orchestra, died on Nov. 16 at the age of 85. Following is
the Phil’s media release:

 

Irving Geller, Associate Concertmaster and first violinist
with the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1951-1999, passed away peacefully on
November 16, surrounded by friends and family. Mr. Geller, born January 10,
1926, is survived by his wife, actress Helen Geller, his children Paul and
Valerie, and grandchildren Juliana, Aaron, James and Greyson.

 

Irving Geller was born in Warsaw, Poland, and began his
musical studies at the age of five. He made his solo debut at age ten, playing
the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Hull House Symphony Orchestra in
Chicago. Performances as a recitalist and orchestra soloist brought the young
violinist many awards and critical praise.

 

While still in his early teens, he and his family moved to
Los Angeles, where his music studies continued and he appeared as soloist with
various orchestras and on radio.

 

Geller then became Assistant Concertmaster of the San
Antonio Symphony Orchestra; following his three years in Texas he joined the
Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1951, becoming one of its youngest members. He has
served as Concertmaster of the California Chamber Symphony, the Los Angeles
Chamber Society (comprised of Los Angeles Philharmonic members), and other
musical organizations in the Los Angeles area.

 

For nearly 25 years, he was the Philharmonic’s Associate
Concertmaster.

 

Drafted as a machine gunner in the infantry of the U.S.
Army, Geller received the Purple Heart after being injured at the “Battle of
the Bulge” (1944-45).

 

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, November 20, at
Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary located at 6001 W. Centinela Avenue, Los
Angeles, CA 90045 at 3pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations
be made in Irving’s name to the Jewish National Fund, Trees for Israel or the
American Cancer Society.

_______________________

 

(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved.
Portions may be quoted with attribution.

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