Out West Arts: Performance at the end of the world

Peter Serkin, Christoph von Dohnányi and members of the LA Phil
Photo : mine 2008

Wedged amidst the Salonen-led programs that round out this year’s L.A. Philharmonic season is a bit of an oddity. Not in terms of programming or quality or anything, it’s just that suddenly this weekend we found Christoph von Dohnányi back at the podium for a show that included a good bit of Messiaen and the requisite Beethoven symphony. The show was also supposed to include the talents of Pierre-Laurent Aimard who apparently had to cancel due to back problems. I truly love to hear Aimard play, so I was a bit disappointed, but the Phil seems to have impeccable luck in finding replacements and they phoned in Peter Serkin to cover. Not only is Serkin an expert hand in this area, he also dropped the originally planned Janácek opener in favor of an additional bird themed Messiaen work, Petites esquisses d’oiseaux for solo piano. It asked a lot for the typical Sunday matinée audience who had to manage their active TB cases for this but they didn't do too badly. It was well received, and rightly so.

This was followed by the originally planned Oiseaux exotiques for piano and small ensemble. Together the two Messiaen works were quite wonderful. While I prefer Aimard’s perhaps less industrious approach in general, Serkin gave an account filled with curiosity and detail – without a doubt very thoughtful and studied. Dohnányi stayed out of the way for the most part and let Serkin and the Philharmonic players communicate with each other in this language of the birds. Unfortunately, this trend would not continue into the second half of the program where Beethoven’s 3rd was on offer. What can one say? It was Beethoven’s 3rd, absolutely nothing more. Plain as day and easily bowled over by the first half of the program. Having just heard Salonen conduct the work last season, it made one glad that this weekend was only a short detour before he’s back on track with two very ambitious programs between now and the end of the month.

Labels: Dohnanyi, LA Philharmonic 07/08

Christoph von Dohnányi and The Philharmonia Orchestra
Photo : mine 2008

Last night was the first of two performances from London’s Philharmonia Orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall here in Los Angeles. This was the group’s debut in the hall, and Christoph von Dohnányi, their current Principal Conductor, led the performance. Of course, this position will soon be vacated only to be occupied by the L.A. Phil's soon-to-exit music director, Esa-Pekka Salonen, starting this Fall. So, in some ways, this show was kind of like meeting your ex’s new boyfriend shortly after he’s dumped you. Of course, this is completely unfair considering that Salonen has a long-standing relationship with the Philharmonia and it's certainly not the matter of his leaving Los Angeles in order simply to take on another conducting position in London. Still, seeing the new, younger, sexier occupant of your former position can rub against the grain. Salonen was there last night sitting next to Peter Sellars who is in town for who knows what. But, while the L.A. Philharmonic big wigs and press were all there, apparently the locals didn’t get the memo in that there were more than a few empty seats throughout the hall.

The show itself was rather meat and potatoes – Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 and Mahler’s First. Why you ask? Hell if I know, but there it was. Dohnányi gets a bad wrap in some circles, but his leadership here was completely reasonable if not always ideal. The Mendelssohn was no-nonsense. Brisk without airs, this very young-appearing orchestra played a spirited and totally sensible version of the work. Mahler, of course, is always the greater challenge in that his music is anything but sensible and sooner or later decisions are going to have to be made. Dohnányi came out swinging with a surprisingly aggressive account at times. Not that it was sloppy or insensitive, but a little overpowering and unnecessarily loud in spots. The players clearly had a lot of spirit though and in the end seemed to pass the most important test – they acted like they truly cared about what they were playing and looked like they were having a heck of a time doing it. On balance, not a half-bad evening. Tomorrow’s even less interesting program includes Beethoven’s 5th and Schumann’s 1st for those who may be interested.

Labels: Dohnanyi, LA Visiting Orchestras