By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
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Pasadena Symphony, soloists and Donald Brinegar Singers; Kazem Abdullah, conductor
Sat., Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Preconcert lecture one hour ahead of each performance.
Ambassador Auditorium, 131 S. St. John Ave.
Tickets: $35-$105. Student and senior rush tickets available
Information: 626/793-7172; www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org
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The Pasadena Symphony finishes its 2013-2014 season in a somewhat strange way as three guest conductors mount the Ambassador Auditorium to conduct the PSO during the next four months.
Symphony schedules are typically planned years in advance and the current list was created before David Lockington was named PSO music director and Nicholas McGegan was tapped as the orchestra’s principal guest conductor last year. As fate would have it, that duo led the opening concerts for this season, leaving each of the three remaining guests to lead programs centered on war-horse blockbusters.
On Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Kazem Abdullah will conduct the orchestra and Donald Brinegar Singers in performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, along with two works by noted Southern California composer Morten Lauridsen: Midwinter Songs and Nocturnes. Soloists in the final movement of the Beethoven, “Ode to Joy,” will be Tracy Cox, soprano; Laura Harrison, mezzo-soprano; Casey Candebat, tenor; and Andrew Craig Brown, bass
You would think that in the 21st century it wouldn’t be necessary to note the obvious: Abdullah is one of the few African-American conductors working today. Of course, he had to go to Europe to find a regular job, in this case, Generalmusikdirektor of the City of Aachen, Germany, a post he assumed in 2012. Abdullah, who was born on July 4, 1979 studied, among other places, at USC.
Although many people will come to Ambassador for Beethoven’s 9th, the two pieces by Lauridsen are intriguing. Lauridsen, who lives in Hollywood and has been a professor of music at USC for 40 years, is one of the most important choral composers in the world today. Although best known for his later works, including Lux Aeterna and O Magnum Mysterium, Lauridsen’s unique style was first fully shown off in Midwinter Songs, which is based on a text by English poet Robert Graves. Midwinter Songs was written in 1980 and orchestrated in 1983.
Nocturnes was written in 2005 and is based on texts from poets Rainier Maria Rike, Pablo Neruda and James Agee. A highlight of the piece is Sure on This Shining Night, based on an Agee poem. That piece is also featured in a 2012 documentary on Lauridsen’s life, Shining Night, which will be shown on March 14 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale (INFO). That program is sponsored by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, which will sing a concert of Lauridsen’s music two nights later in Walt Disney Concert Hall (INFO)
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(c) Copyright 2014, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.
