Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Last Night in LA--"Insomnia"

The LA Philharmonic, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, played his own composition �Insomnia�, a 20-minute set of variations for large orchestra (with five percussionists and four Wagner tubas). This is not a work that has anguished unperformed after its premiere. Since its 2002 opening performance in Tokyo, the piece has been played in St. Petersburg, Chicago, San Francisco, Stockholm, and Tanglewood; next week it will be heard in Cologne, then in Philadelphia. Not bad for the first two and a half years. Yes, it helps to have Esa-Pekka Salonen in demand as a conductor to recommend one of his own works for a program, but Robert Spano and Christoph Eschenbach have also included the work on their programs, so clearly it stands on its own merits. Hearing it, it�s easy to know why the work has been well-received by audiences and critics. Audiences like its accessibility and color; they understand the mind, awake at night, going over and over the same recurring elements, hearing the insistence of the thoughts. They also like the "Firebird"-like orchestral color. The critics can hear the development of an interesting composer, becoming more and more successful in marshaling orchestral resources for complex musical ideas.

The work has just been recorded and released by Deutsche Gramophone along with Salonen�s two other best-yet works for orchestra, �Foreign Bodies� (2001) and �Wing on Wing� (2004) --- written in honor of Frank Gehry and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The music is also available (already) on iTunes which offers an additional track, �Dichotomie� (2000) for piano solo, recorded by Yefim Bronfman. Unfortunately, the recordings don�t involve the LA musicians nor the sound in Disney Hall; a reflection of the current state of the classical recording business.

Googling �Insomnia�, I see that the work has consistently been programmed with 20th century classics or with contemporary music. For the Los Angeles concert, and for Cologne, Salonen placed the work first on a program coupled with the Bruckner 7th Symphony as the second and final work. This combination was surprisingly effective. In a trivial sense, both works used Wagner tubas as part of a deep bass foundation within large orchestras. The two works, however, were complementary despite the differences in the styles and the personalities of the two composers. The combination emphasized the homage to Wagner within Salonen�s work as well as in Bruckner, the follower. Both works use small cells of musical ideas that grow and replicate and evolve. In performance sequence, the opening chords of the Bruckner seemed to bring the sleepness night of the Salonen to a peaceful rest.

posted by Jerry Zinser 2/26/2005