Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Last Night in L.A. - Lindberg and the Master

There�s always a special feeling about the first Philharmonic concert of the season: the music is back! No matter what else is happening in the world, we still have our music. In its third season, going to Walt Disney Concert Hall (to use the official, and officially preferred name) remains a special and distinct pleasure, for the sight as well as for the sound. And the seats were almost filled, once again, and no vacancy remained in the least expensive seating, behind the orchestra.

This season Esa-Pekka Salonen decided he wanted to do a complete survey of the Beethoven symphonies. The Phil�s schedule for the year was set up to offer a non-subscription series of the symphonies by themselves, Beethoven unadorned. For the subscription series Salonen wanted to bring out his feeling for Beethoven as a radical breaker of convention and tradition; the subscription concerts combine Beethoven symphonies with strong, distinctive works by contemporary composers. These are not those nice, short, overture-length works which are used so often to open concerts of traditional music, allowing management to praise themselves for recognizing living composers, while allowing those with tender ears to wait in the lobby until the real part of the concert was to begin. No, these are major contemporary works, placed in the �concerto� position in a standard three-work program, works by Ligeti, Knussen, Lutoslawski, Dutilleux, and premieres by Hillborg and, yesterday, Magnus Lindberg.

Lindberg�s new work, Sculpture, was paired with Beethoven�s Eroica and it more than held its own. It�s a 25-minute work in one movement (with four parts) for a non-traditional orchestra. Lindberg used no violins (have you seen the violist acting as concertmaster before?), and Lindberg supplemented the orchestra by doubling the contrabassoons, the bass clarinets, tubas, pianos, and harps, while adding alto flute, Wagner tubas, and � for some marvelous rumblings at the close-- the organ. All of the lower notes were heard, wonderfully clear in the Disney�s acoustic; the work wouldn�t be nearly as fascinating in a hall, like our Music Center Pavilion, that absorbs the bass. Lindberg has a reputation for taking time to work and re-work his compositions, and Sculpture was initially intended for last season, but was delayed by the composer because he didn�t feel the work was ready.

Salonen has become comfortable talking to the audience prior to the start of a concert when he wants to communicate something about a new work. Yesterday, he brought Lindberg on stage to discuss Sculpture and to dedicate the piece to Frank Gehry, sitting in the orchestra section rather than in his usual seat on the side above the violins.

As might be expected, Salonen�s Eroica was great music-making. I usually have the luxury of writing my comments before Mark Swed has published his comments in the Los Angeles Times but this time he beat me; Mark wrote that he felt that Salonen might be inventing �postmodern Beethoven�. Whatever. It was an awfully good concert.

posted by Jerry Zinser 10/10/2005