"It is such a perfection, such a simplicity, such a beautiful atmosphere," said conductor Gustavo Dudamel about Ma Mère l'Oye by Ravel, the work that opened his concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker transmitted live over the Digital Concert Hall. "Wow! How can I deal with this beauty! Almost...you suffer for the beauty of this music!”
The five movements that comprise Ravel's suite need to come across as a memory of childhood. They need to sound filled with longing for what was once ordinary and domestic. They are always a tall order to open a program because the "excitement of beginning" is the exact opposite of the emotional quality that is required.
Dudamel came to the podium in a very subdued mood and let the music spill naturally, keeping tempos quietly dancing. He connected the second movement to the first with only a breath pause, and though the pauses between other movements were increasinly longer, he maintained a continual sense of energy to unfold without the feel of starting and stopping.
The digital concert hall transmitted the Ravel with too much focus on individual soloists. The highlighting of each solo line with visual solo shot pulled these lines too far from their colorful contexts. In the fourth movement, which portrays the interaction of "beauty and the beast" with a waltz for beauty and the contrabassoon representing the beast, the constant solo shots focused only on "beauty" after the first two entrances of the contrabassoon, and so the interaction between the two was diminished.
Violinist Leonidas Kavakos joined the orchestra as soloist in the Korngold Violin Concerto. Kavakos has a commanding musical presence with razor sharp articulation. He has a wonderful, crazy, Paganini energy--he stands in very relaxed posture, in the complete absence of any showmanship, and lyrical warmness and cerebral technical precision just emanate from him.
I loved the way he voiced the second theme group of the opening movement, the so-called "Juarez complex" of material from Korngold's 1939 film. The line is filled with melodic gaps, and Kavakos edged these gaps to make us clearly aware of what they were missing. The ending gestures of the first movement were fiery from both orchestra and soloist.
The second movement felt like chamber music on an epic scale. It is music of contradiction and too often its surfaces are what attract. This performance dug much deeper into possibilities. The third movement was taken at lightening fast speed and became a jittery jig with a big Hollywood ending. It sounded cool. The work was well received, and Kavakos returned to play the opening movement of the Sonata No. 5 in G major, called "L'Aurore" by Eugène Ysaÿe.
After intermission we heard "Also sprach Zarathustra" by Strauss. The first half of this performance was tightly constructed and the interrelationship of motives was clear and powerfully developed. The extension and development of the Tanzlied lost focus but found its bearings again when the music settled in B major for the Nachtwandlerlied. Dudamel extended the silence after the final unresolved C-naturals that close the work, and he allowed us to contemplate the life out of balance that sounds at the end of this work. There was still music even in this silence.
Showing posts with label Dudamel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dudamel. Show all posts
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
The Union of Two Families; a Review of Mahler 8 on LAPhil Live-in-HD
Mahler's massive Symphony No. 8 was a work engineered to make an impression.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Símon Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela joined together on the same stage in Caracas, Venezuela to close the Mahler Project undertaken by conductor Gustavo Dudamel with a massive performance of Mahler 8 that was transmitted as part of the LAPhil Live-in-HD series.
During the preconcert documentary, Dudamel called the endeavor "the union of two families."
It was an orchestra of more than 200 players and more than 1,000 choristers, and the sound was big. Really big. But the event itself had a significance that transcended its massiveness.
The National Youth Choir of Venezuela was grouped in front, and one could hear gradations of older singers behind them that seemed to stretch in every direction. Some camera angles that revealed the vast number of singers present were simply amazing. The musicians of the Símon Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and the singers documented the range of ages and experiences from the entire system of musical education called "el Sistema." It was a sounding index of miraculous successes. It was inspiring.
Mahler 8 has a significant chamber music side that was infrequently captured in this performance, and it was hard to gauge the balances of the soloists in the cinema--particularly in the solo ensembles. There were so many singers that there was no room for benches. The singers stood throughout the performance. This caused noticeable fatigue by the end. But the sweep of the symphony was still delivered intact.
A dramatic touch was created when the Mater Gloriosa came into position on the balcony just after the Doctor Marianus episode with the choral line "Dir, der Unberührbaren (To you, the immaculate)." The presence of the Mater Gloriosa this early in the second movement helped us to properly place her significance. Kiera Duffy sang this brief but structural music with tenderness and fire. I first reviewed Duffy in 2006 at Tanglewood as Rose in Carter's "What Next" and the next season as Despina in Ira Siff's production of Così.
Dudamel was superb in his preconcert discussions of the music. However, because this work consists of two huge panels of complicated music, it would have been better to have even more narrative around the kind of listening strategies he advocated. There was a 20-minute intermission just before the concert started and then both movements were played without break. The design felt strange at first but it worked, even though we did not need a full 20-minute break.
The cinema in which I watched the event had a solid audience. Bring these events with more regularity and this following will expand. The only other announced event will not be a live transmission but a screening of the LAPhil season opening Gershwin concert featuring Herbie Hancock. That event will be in cinemas on March 18.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Símon Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela joined together on the same stage in Caracas, Venezuela to close the Mahler Project undertaken by conductor Gustavo Dudamel with a massive performance of Mahler 8 that was transmitted as part of the LAPhil Live-in-HD series.
During the preconcert documentary, Dudamel called the endeavor "the union of two families."
It was an orchestra of more than 200 players and more than 1,000 choristers, and the sound was big. Really big. But the event itself had a significance that transcended its massiveness.
The National Youth Choir of Venezuela was grouped in front, and one could hear gradations of older singers behind them that seemed to stretch in every direction. Some camera angles that revealed the vast number of singers present were simply amazing. The musicians of the Símon Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and the singers documented the range of ages and experiences from the entire system of musical education called "el Sistema." It was a sounding index of miraculous successes. It was inspiring.
Mahler 8 has a significant chamber music side that was infrequently captured in this performance, and it was hard to gauge the balances of the soloists in the cinema--particularly in the solo ensembles. There were so many singers that there was no room for benches. The singers stood throughout the performance. This caused noticeable fatigue by the end. But the sweep of the symphony was still delivered intact.
A dramatic touch was created when the Mater Gloriosa came into position on the balcony just after the Doctor Marianus episode with the choral line "Dir, der Unberührbaren (To you, the immaculate)." The presence of the Mater Gloriosa this early in the second movement helped us to properly place her significance. Kiera Duffy sang this brief but structural music with tenderness and fire. I first reviewed Duffy in 2006 at Tanglewood as Rose in Carter's "What Next" and the next season as Despina in Ira Siff's production of Così.
Dudamel was superb in his preconcert discussions of the music. However, because this work consists of two huge panels of complicated music, it would have been better to have even more narrative around the kind of listening strategies he advocated. There was a 20-minute intermission just before the concert started and then both movements were played without break. The design felt strange at first but it worked, even though we did not need a full 20-minute break.
The cinema in which I watched the event had a solid audience. Bring these events with more regularity and this following will expand. The only other announced event will not be a live transmission but a screening of the LAPhil season opening Gershwin concert featuring Herbie Hancock. That event will be in cinemas on March 18.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
LAPhil Live in HD Review: Mendelssohn "Like a Dark and Cold Wind"
The LAPhil Live in HD season returned to cinemas with a program of frequently played works by Mendelssohn. Conductor Gustavo Dudamel has been all over the news over the past week, being named "Musician of the Year" by Gramophone Magazine and with the announcement of two new music education with links to our side of the country.
This production looked markedly different from last season. There were many shots from within the orchestra; as if we were sitting in the string section, and many more close-ups of players. There was no host, and a host was not missed. The rehearsal footage alone made the event worth attending--Dudamel expressed fabulous insights into the Scottish symphony in particular.
The event opened with a dark and moody performance of the Hebrides Overture. Dudamel worked on the slower side and let lines surge and build with great skill. Given this context the famous clarinet statement of the second theme group in B major (with the editorial marking "tranquillo assai") seemed overly articulated and was played with a dotted 8th and 16th at the end of its first measure. Was this decision based on one of the new editions of the work? Still the work was a gorgeous and evocative way to open the event.
Dutch virtuoso Janine Jansen joined the orchestra as soloist in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. Mark Swed raved about her playing on Thursday evening. This particular performance did not come into the cinema as effectively as the performance he described. Jansen never seemed fully comfortable during the first movement and seemed not to explore the stillness and silences of the cadenza that she described in the preconcert interview footage. There were lovely chamber-like moments in the second movement where she brought out a vulnerable quality in the music, and the finale was fabulous from start to stop. For her encore she played the sarabande from Bach's second partita in D minor.
After intermission we heard significant insights from Dudamel and great rehearsal footage. "Its like a cold and dark [wind]," said Dudamel of the opening gesture of the symphony. "The structure is very classical," he said of the symphony in general, "but with a nostalgic and Romantic soul."
Laughter erupted several times in the orchestra as he described the image of a queen, "who goes to the gym" taking part in the massive victory celebration at the end of the finale. And Dudamel kept looking for edges that would project a sense of warfare.
In my cinema "Real Steel" was playing next door. Some of that fighting spilled into our space, but I swear that Dudamel was so much in command that I could be persuaded he had willed it to be so. Dudamel's vision of the piece worked. The explosive sound as the finale opened was memorable, and textures throughout were rich and well-balanced. It was a performance that was detailed and expressive.
The next LAPhil Live in HD will be Mahler 8 in February...but that seems too far away. I would have loved at least one other event between now and then.
This production looked markedly different from last season. There were many shots from within the orchestra; as if we were sitting in the string section, and many more close-ups of players. There was no host, and a host was not missed. The rehearsal footage alone made the event worth attending--Dudamel expressed fabulous insights into the Scottish symphony in particular.
The event opened with a dark and moody performance of the Hebrides Overture. Dudamel worked on the slower side and let lines surge and build with great skill. Given this context the famous clarinet statement of the second theme group in B major (with the editorial marking "tranquillo assai") seemed overly articulated and was played with a dotted 8th and 16th at the end of its first measure. Was this decision based on one of the new editions of the work? Still the work was a gorgeous and evocative way to open the event.
Dutch virtuoso Janine Jansen joined the orchestra as soloist in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. Mark Swed raved about her playing on Thursday evening. This particular performance did not come into the cinema as effectively as the performance he described. Jansen never seemed fully comfortable during the first movement and seemed not to explore the stillness and silences of the cadenza that she described in the preconcert interview footage. There were lovely chamber-like moments in the second movement where she brought out a vulnerable quality in the music, and the finale was fabulous from start to stop. For her encore she played the sarabande from Bach's second partita in D minor.
After intermission we heard significant insights from Dudamel and great rehearsal footage. "Its like a cold and dark [wind]," said Dudamel of the opening gesture of the symphony. "The structure is very classical," he said of the symphony in general, "but with a nostalgic and Romantic soul."
Laughter erupted several times in the orchestra as he described the image of a queen, "who goes to the gym" taking part in the massive victory celebration at the end of the finale. And Dudamel kept looking for edges that would project a sense of warfare.
In my cinema "Real Steel" was playing next door. Some of that fighting spilled into our space, but I swear that Dudamel was so much in command that I could be persuaded he had willed it to be so. Dudamel's vision of the piece worked. The explosive sound as the finale opened was memorable, and textures throughout were rich and well-balanced. It was a performance that was detailed and expressive.
The next LAPhil Live in HD will be Mahler 8 in February...but that seems too far away. I would have loved at least one other event between now and then.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Review of LA PHIL Live in HD; Two Powerful Silences
The LA Philharmonic jumped into the Live in HD pool this afternoon with its first ever live in HD broadcast, and the first of three HD broadcasts this season.
The program was attractive; "Slonimsky's Earbox" by John Adams, the Bernstein first symphony and Beethoven's seventh symphony.
There were two powerful silences in the experience: first there was no sound from the satellite in my theater until half-way through the Adams. One needed Beethoven's ear-trumpet to hear Slonimsky's Earbox.
In the 21st century we turn quickly on failures of this sort. People were pissed. They stormed out looking for refunds. The live signal we were channeling from an orbiting satellite, in order to hear a symphony playing on the west coast, was silent. We failed to see the humor. We are too spoiled.
The other silence was devastating. At the end of a gripping performance of the Bernstein first symphony, that was the musical highlight of the event, conductor Gustavo Dudamel froze and let silence wash over us. He must have stayed motionless for 12 seconds or more...and finally applause.
Mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor sang from within the orchestra in the third movement. She sang without the hard edges and intense vibrato that one often hears in this movement. It was gorgeous.
Here was Bernstein presented to the public in movie theaters as a composer of serious music. It was strangely affecting; strangely funny.
Dudamel described Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 as being a symphony "of happiness." It is "like dancing and dancing and dancing and enjoying," he said. The performance of the first three movements was ok. Dudamel chose not to take the repeat in the first movement. Why would one choose less happiness than Beethoven?
But the fourth movement was full of fire and jumped with massive energy into the movie theater.
This medium has great potential for symphonic music. The production will need to be improved. The tendency to cut from one angle to another reached a caffeinated frenzy during the Beethoven. We don't need so many close-ups of the musicians. We don't always need to pan during wide shots. Let us watch Dudamel for more than a few seconds at a time. We never felt a part of the audience in LA. Give us more shots from the audience.
Here is the thing: there is nothing boring about watching an orchestra. Choose an angle and let us watch them for a while. Let us decide where to cast our eyes once and a while.
I liked Vanessa Williams. I guess sometimes the snow does come down in June.
With some tweaks and some rethinking this series will work.
The program was attractive; "Slonimsky's Earbox" by John Adams, the Bernstein first symphony and Beethoven's seventh symphony.
There were two powerful silences in the experience: first there was no sound from the satellite in my theater until half-way through the Adams. One needed Beethoven's ear-trumpet to hear Slonimsky's Earbox.
In the 21st century we turn quickly on failures of this sort. People were pissed. They stormed out looking for refunds. The live signal we were channeling from an orbiting satellite, in order to hear a symphony playing on the west coast, was silent. We failed to see the humor. We are too spoiled.
The other silence was devastating. At the end of a gripping performance of the Bernstein first symphony, that was the musical highlight of the event, conductor Gustavo Dudamel froze and let silence wash over us. He must have stayed motionless for 12 seconds or more...and finally applause.
Mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor sang from within the orchestra in the third movement. She sang without the hard edges and intense vibrato that one often hears in this movement. It was gorgeous.
Here was Bernstein presented to the public in movie theaters as a composer of serious music. It was strangely affecting; strangely funny.
Dudamel described Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 as being a symphony "of happiness." It is "like dancing and dancing and dancing and enjoying," he said. The performance of the first three movements was ok. Dudamel chose not to take the repeat in the first movement. Why would one choose less happiness than Beethoven?
But the fourth movement was full of fire and jumped with massive energy into the movie theater.
This medium has great potential for symphonic music. The production will need to be improved. The tendency to cut from one angle to another reached a caffeinated frenzy during the Beethoven. We don't need so many close-ups of the musicians. We don't always need to pan during wide shots. Let us watch Dudamel for more than a few seconds at a time. We never felt a part of the audience in LA. Give us more shots from the audience.
Here is the thing: there is nothing boring about watching an orchestra. Choose an angle and let us watch them for a while. Let us decide where to cast our eyes once and a while.
I liked Vanessa Williams. I guess sometimes the snow does come down in June.
With some tweaks and some rethinking this series will work.
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