Monday, October 17, 2005
Last Night in L.A. - Beethoven With a Knussen Touch
Yesterday�s Phil concert continued the Salonen mix of contemporary works with the Beethoven symphonies; this program combined the Fourth and Sixth symphonies with Oliver Knussen�s Violin Concerto (2002). We last heard this work in June when the Cleveland came west and traveled to the Ojai Festival where William Preucil played the concerto with Welser-Most conducting.
It�s not fair to compare a performance outdoors, with amplification, by a band near the end of a tour, with a performance by a group at their home hall, where they are now very comfortable and where the sound is great, but I�ll do it anyway. Yesterday�s performance, with Leila Josefowicz on violin, and Salonen conducting (of course), was head and shoulders better, giving the music snap and sparkle and sheer style. Besides being a talented musician, Josefowicz has done some really good work with contemporary music, notably the Adams Violin Concerto and, now, Dharma at Big Sur on the electric violin. Our subscription seats are next to two house seats, and Josefowicz� aide was sitting there (joined by gorgeous Leila herself after intermission); he said that she would be playing the Knussen concerto, with Knussen as conductor, later this season.
The concert began with Beethoven�s Pastoral. It sounded, well, like something 200 years old. After intermission, however, Salonen�s conducting of the Beethoven Fourth brought out how daring, how radical, Beethoven must have seemed to his contemporaries and the work was fresh and exciting.
posted by Jerry Zinser
10/17/2005
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