Review: Veterans shine in ABT’s ‘Giselle’

Other recent stories by Paul Hodgins on the Arts Blog:

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 Review. The Orange County Register, Nov. 6, 2009. 

Heretofore, Gustavo Dudamel, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new music director, has appeared with the orchestra for a week or two at a time. Thursday night marked the beginning of his most extended period with the group to date. He decided to open it with a real corker, a masterpiece of lyrical doom and gloom, pounding fear and hellfire known as Verdi’s Requiem. Expectations ran high in a sold-out Disney Hall.

The maestro, in white tie and tails, strode heroically onstage. He waited for complete silence and then began, the muted cellos playing so softly and distantly and intensely the listener leaned forward to hear, was instantly transported into another world until … a cell phone went off. It was a rock tune, strangely familiar yet what was it? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. The rock tune went off again and one half expected Mr. Bean to stand up with a dumb grin on his face, fumbling in his coat pocket to turn the thing off.

Dudamel stopped the orchestra, the audience hissed, he waited for silence and then began again. OK, so it was only a concert after all. Thanks for the reminder, Mr. Bean.

Still, it was quite a concert. This was only Dudamel’s second go at Verdi’s Requiem in his career, but he already seems to have the massive work under his skin. What’s more, it’s a work that his predecessor, in 17 years, never conducted here. Not really his style. But it is Dudamel’s. The young man enjoys swinging for the fences while he wears his heart on his sleeve.

Written in memory of the great Italian novelist, poet and father figure of modern Italy, Alessandro Manzoni, Verdi’s Requiem is not a comforting work, with its unworthy sinners begging for mercy from an apparently merciless god, death and destruction everywhere, no hope. It may be a little odd to consider it entertaining, but entertaining it is, nevertheless. It is extravagantly Italian in its emotions and was criticized, as a sacred work, for being too operatic. But of course that’s where its potency lies. There’s no treating the text here with kid gloves. When the gates of Hell open up you know it.

Dudamel’s reading had many strengths, and even some of its weaknesses eventually seemed like strengths. Precision wasn’t its main concern; this was no holds barred. Fortissimos were raucous and roof-raising, also, at times, a big jumble texturally. Coordination between the solo vocal quartet and the orchestra was often loose. Even by itself, the orchestra could be unsettled, not in complete lockstep.

But there was method here. It was as if Dudamel had taken the chains off the musicians. Everyone was playing out, singing out, shouting out. The looseness allowed expression, flexibility, warmth. It unleashed energy. It unleashed lyricism.

The exultant oratory itself was well controlled. Broad strokes were matched by telling details. Dudamel managed the pace expertly and coaxed ample and shapely phrases throughout. The famous opening of the “Dies Irae” truly frightened, the conductor getting airborne. With trumpets spaced around the hall, the “Tuba Mirum” became a coup de theatre. The “Lacrymosa” swelled to a glorious outpouring. The “Sanctus” vaulted exuberantly.

The vocal quartet sang handsomely, forthrightly. Bass John Relyea boomed in aptly sepulchral tones, gaining steel with volume. Tenor David Lomeli proved prone to hollering, but sang a convincing line with conviction. Mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova supplied liquid opulence and pointed nuance. Young soprano Leah Crocetto, a first-year Adler fellow at San Francisco Opera, impressed with equal parts poise, velvety tone, power, sensitivity and emotive immediacy.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale thundered and literally whispered with springy agility and well marked rhythms.

In short, a memorable Verdi Requiem. Hard to ask for more.

After leading three more Requiem performances this weekend, Dudamel oversees three additional programs in multiple performances this month, with music by Berio, Schubert, Mozart, Berg, Salonen, Adams and Lou Harrison and stellar guest soloists on order.

It’ll be a great opportunity for the orchestra, and for us listeners, to get to know him better. Leave your cell phones at home.

• Los Angeles Philharmonic
• With: Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Los Angeles Master Chorale; Leah Crocetto, soprano; Ekaterina Gubanova, mezzo-soprano; David Lomeli, tenor; John Relyea, bass
• Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall
• When: Nov. 5
• Next: 8 p.m. Nov. 6-7; 2 p.m. Nov. 8
• How much: Call for availability
• Call: 323-850-2000
• Online: laphil.com

photo: anna hult

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Register review: Veterans shine in American Ballet Theatre’s ‘Giselle’

ABT’s production of “Giselle” continues through Sunday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

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The third movement of the Symphony No. 4 by Brahms, Carlos Kleiber conducting the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. There are so many good things about this performance, but one thing I especially like is the variety of tone colors Kleiber gets out of this orchestra and out of the piece. So many performances of Brahms are thick and murky. Not this one. Another thing I like: Kleiber looks like he’s having a lot of fun.

Speaking of fun, here’s my favorite Kleiber video, old but good.

related link: carlos kleiber’s business model

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Review: Lang Lang And Friends dropped by Orange County last night with performances by kiddie keyboardists, among others. The Orange County Register, Nov. 4, 2009.

The Chinese pianist Lang Lang is probably the only classical musician in the history of the world to have his own limited edition sneaker. Dean Corey, president of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, was sporting a pair Tuesday night at Segerstrom Concert Hall when he came onstage to welcome one and all to the evening’s entertainment, a show (that’s the right word) called Lang Lang and Friends.

Lang Lang arrived with tousled hair and wearing a shiny, narrow dark suit that could have come straight out of the Bobby Darin Signature Collection. He was even carrying a microphone. Alfred Brendel he is not. The pianist served as host (sometimes awkward), interviewer, accompanist, motivator and chamber musician for the event, part of the Society’s “Ancient Paths, Modern Voices” festival collaboration with Carnegie Hall.

The concert lived up to its name. The performers were Chinese and Chinese-American musicians, some of them old friends of the pianist, many of them just kids, emerging artists that Lang is mentoring and helping through his International Music Foundation.

First came pianist Ray Ushikubo, an 8-year-old from L.A. so small that he needed a special contraption to reach and manipulate the pedals. He played Chopin’s Waltz No. 5 in A flat with poise, soft touch and even a little rubato. It was cute. Next, Marc Yu, a 10-year-old from Pasadena, sat down with Lang Lang, who took the second part, for a polite reading of Schubert’s Rondo in A, D. 951, for piano four hands. The two had played the same in Carnegie Hall just last week.

One always worries a little when kids are put into this kind of pressure situation, but on Tuesday these ones seemed happy to be there. Yu was relaxed enough to mimic the arm and body swaying of his idol and partner.

Three more junior pianists, Derek Wang, 11, Anna Larsen, 9, and Charlie Liu, 9, joined Lang before intermission for a whiz-bang performance Mack Wilberg’s Fantasy on Themes from Bizet’s “Carmen,” a rather tiresomely polytonal treatment of the opera’s big moments, however lively.

Guo Gan, an erhu player – the erhu is a Chinese string instrument, played with a bow – came on in traditional Chinese robe for two numbers, the plaintive “The Moon Reflected on the Er-Quan Spring,” and the headlong “Horse Racing.” In both, Lang showed himself an unselfish and sensitive accompanist.

Tenor Ge Qun Wang, who helped out the young Lang as a translator when they were both at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, sang “That is me, Mama” by Gu Jianfen, the traditional “Ussuri Fisherman’s Song,” and, as an encore, Donizetti’s “Una furtiva lagrima,” capably, scoring especially in the softer moments.

It proved a long half of short snippets, with small talk in between, not exactly the perfect set-up for the second half, a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor. Perhaps nothing could set this long piece up ideally; though inspired enough moment to moment, it goes on too long, and its elegiac mood and endless variations grow wearisome.

Still, it was perhaps as stirring a performance as one could ask for. Violinist Dan Zhu, a young international soloist and chamber musician, displayed a penetrating but carefully calibrated tone, outlining phrases crisply, elegantly and intelligently, never overdoing the swoon. Cellist Hai-Ye Ni, principal in the Philadelphia Orchestra, also showed admirable taste and burnished tone, though her sound was sometimes covered in climactic moments.

For his part, Lang, finally able to play a leading role, proved a model chamber musician, thundering and growling when the music called for it, dropping into delicate background when the strings had the main line. What’s more, there was great variety and imagination in his playing, a spontaneity that allowed the music to dance and ruminate vividly.

• Lang Lang and Friends
• Where: Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall
• When: Nov. 3
• Next: The Philharmonic Society of Orange County presents the Shanghai Symphony with pianist Yuja Wang, 8 p.m. Nov. 24.
• How much: $30-$250
• Call: 949-553-2422
• Online: philharmonicsociety.org

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Deutsche Bank will present a free webcast of the Berlin Philharmonic and conductor Simon Rattle performing Brahms’ Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 as part of a promotion of the orchestra’s upcoming U.S. tour (which stops at Disney Hall on Nov. 23-24).

The webcast will be streamed at 8 p.m. EST on Nov. 9 (that would be 5 p.m. PST). All you have to do is register (name, e-mail address) at www.db.com. The concert is from the Berliner’s Digital Concert Hall archives, recorded in the summer.

As previously noted, the Berlin Philharmonic’s webcasts are of a different order than most, presented in high definition video, CD-quality sound, and with wonderful camerawork. You can see a free sample at http://dch.berliner-philharmoniker.de/#/en/tour/.

photo: jan bauer/ap

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The links below are to the pages on online retail sites where you can buy the 10 Mozart recordings to get you started. Please leave examples of your own favorite Mozart recordings in the Comments section below.

1. Serkin performs Mozart piano concertos

2. Pletnev performs Mozart piano sonatas

3. Colin Davis conducts Mozart overtures

4. Giulini conducts Mozart symphonies

5. Harnoncourt conducts Mozart’s Requiem

6. Charles Mackerras conducts Mozart’s “Gran Partita” Serenade

7. The Emerson String Quartet plays Mozart string quartets

8. Giulini conducts Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”

9. Kavakos plays the Mozart’s Violin Concertos

10. Argerich and Rabinovitch play Mozart’s works for piano four hands

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As you may or may not know, Sunday was the Day of the Dead — or El Día de los Muertos — and the Mexican/Latin American tradition continues today, Nov. 2.

The two-day celebration corresponds with the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1 and All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2. While the dearly departed are recognized on both days, many celebrants focus on deceased children on Nov. 1 and deceased adults on Nov. 2.

You can read a story about Day of the Dead celebrations in Orange County here.

As with other culturally-specific celebrations, a good deal of art comes out of the Day of the Dead. There are variously and colorfully decorated skeletons,  intricate altars to departed loved ones, colorful masks and costumes and sugar skulls that kids paint.

Many famous and folk artists have been inspired by Day of the Dead, including Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqeiros, Jose Clemente Orozco and Rufino Tamayo.

One figure that keeps popping up at this time of year is La Calavera Catrina, also known as La Catrina. “La Calavera Catrina” is a 1913 zinc etching done by Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada.

La Catrina is an upper class woman who wears an ornate dress and often a large hat. Yet, she’s still a skeleton, still among the dead and not the living. The La Catrina print was popular during Posada’s day, but then lost its popularity over time. She was revived by French artist and art historian Jean Charlot in the 1920s, after the Mexican Revolution.

Famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera incorporated La Catrina in his 1947-48 mural, “Dream of a Sunday in Alameda Park.” Rivera also included himself, his wife Frida Kahlo and Posada in the work.

In Anaheim, the first Día de los Muertos Music and Cultural Festival on Sunday featured live music, custom cars, lowriders, a couple of La Catrina costume contests and more than 20 vendors hawking t-shirts and designed clothing.

The vendors included Kustom Voodoo from L.A., To Die For from Costa Mesa, and Hoodlums for Life from Long Beach. Two guys from taxcannabis.org were also in attendance, getting people to sign for a legalization of marijuana ballot initiative in November 2010.

Anyway, it was interesting how cultures have crossed at the Anaheim festival, and how the imagery and designs from Day of the Dead have attracted those who follow the rockabilly, Kustom Car and lowrider scenes. Tattoo enthusiasts were also in abundance.

The Day of the Dead celebrations will continue in Santa Ana on Saturday, Nov. 7. Noche de Altares is scheduled for 2-10 p.m. at the Fiesta Marketplace, on the corner of Bush and 3rd streets.

Previous posts on Visual Art by Richard Chang that you may have missed:

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The Council for the Arts at MIT has named Gustavo Dudamel the recipient of the 2010 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT. And whereas Mr. Gustavo Dudamel is the receiver of said award, therefore, said council will supplement Mr. Dudamel’s bank account with $75,000, also known as cash.

Good for Dudamel. If ever there was a guy who deserved it and didn’t need it, he would be the one.

The news release describes the McDermott as “an award celebrating rising, innovative talents in the arts and one of the most generous arts honors in the U.S.” Is Dudamel still rising? Seems to me he’s already arrived.

Anyway, enough. It’s just that so many of these awards lately strike me as hilarious. Like Placido Domingo getting the $1 million Brigit Nilsson Prize last month. Or Cecilia Bartoli winning the Leonie Sonning Music Prize and $125,000 in June. It’s as though the prize committees are simply going through a List of Huge Successes and piling good money on top of, well, good money. I don’t know, maybe that’s their job.

Further regarding Dudamel. As McDermott winner, he’ll also be in residency at MIT. Here’s the description of that:

Beyond a $75,000 cash prize, the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT offers its recipient a campus residency. The goal of the residency is to provide unparalleled access to the creative energy and cutting edge research found in the MIT community and to connect the recipient with departments, laboratories and research centers throughout the Institute in ways that are mutually enlightening. As part of his own residency, which will take place in April 2010, Gustavo Dudamel will visit the MIT Media Lab and conduct an Open Rehearsal with the MIT Symphony Orchestra on Friday evening, April 16, 2010, where President Susan Hockfield will present the award. The next afternoon, he will take part in a panel discussion with Institute Professor John Harbison and Professor of Music and Media Tod Machover, moderated by journalist Maria Hinojosa. A celebratory dinner will follow in the newly expanded Media Lab building designed by Pritzker-prize winning architect Fumihiko Maki, held on the evening of Saturday April 17th, 2010. Further details on the program of the residency will be announced in January 2010.

Sounds like something from a David Lodge novel.

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Graham Michael Hamilton and Kristen Bush in “Saturn Returns”

Noah Haidle’s “Saturn Returns” is the second play in SCR’s young 2009-10 season to examine mourning and grief. It’s a surprisingly quiet and mature work from a young playwright whose previous scripts were more blatantly button-pushing.

Register review: ‘Saturn Returns’

More on theater by Paul Hodgins:

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