Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Last Night in L.A. - Steve Reich

The third program in the Minimalism Jukebox was devoted (in many senses of the word) to Steve Reich. The program presented three works from 1979 to 1986 (Reich�s middle period?) to a generally-enthusiastic audience.

True, there was a higher percentage of no-shows in the seats of season subscribers than we usually see and a few of the older subscribers had difficulties with even this music and left at intermission. We heard a few of these people grumbling--hardly a random sample--but it certainly seemed as if they didn�t know what to listen for. All they heard were the repeated notes; they couldn�t hear a melody and didn�t know how to understand what was happening in the music. Once again, the Phil could have helped a portion of its audience if a respected figure had given a short guide on what to listen for; since the audience didn�t know the conductor, perhaps this could have been done by Deborah Borda who came on stage to speak about the recording being made.

But if a few of the audience were lost, the majority showed their understanding and appreciation. It�s nice to hear some shouts of approval for something other than a showy performance of a floridly romantic concerto, and these concerts are creating that. With some season ticket holders exchanging their tickets for more comfortable concerts, the people getting the tickets have been younger than is usual, good to see.

The concert began with Reich�s Variations for Winds, Strings, and Keyboards (1979). In the 60s a group of otherwise diverse visual artists in Los Angeles developed a style which became called Finish Fetish, a style not at all foreign to the stylists of hot-rod cars with layer upon layer of paint and lacquer, some layers with flecks of metal or of mother of pearl, producing a deep, glowing, scintillating surface. This work of Reich�s makes me think of Finish Fetish: the surface glows, the colors are lovely, there�s not a flaw to be seen, but it�s hard for me to go beneath the surface, to feel anything. So listening to this becomes, for me, an intellectual exercise similar to listening to a complex fugue. It�s easier to just listen to the surface, which is awfully pretty.

The work before intermission was Three Movements for Orchestra (1986), which I think was the best work of the concert, a work standing with Reich�s best (and that includes some great pieces). The performance was less than 20 minutes, but the work has substance and body; it was a good choice for this place in the program. The work begins with a Riley-like pulse and grows from there. Sound clips are available from Amazon. I�m really looking forward to getting the iTunes download next week.

The second half of the concert was Tehillim (1981), Reich�s landmark setting of four Psalms. On Amazon I find three recordings of this work; as another indication of its acceptance by the public, in the archives of the New York Times I find mention of its use by choreographers of three different dance companies. This is a vibrant, joyous work; the sound in Disney Hall was glorious. The Synergy Vocals group provided the four sopranos for the work (as they did for Andriessen Friday night); the web site of Synergy Vocals holds a Steve Reich endorsement on its cover page. The four singers chosen for this work gave model performances. The work builds to its high point in the fourth movement with its sequence of �Praise Him� lines from Psalm 110. The final �Hallelujah� was rousing. Stefan Asbury was an excellent conductor for the concert; it�s clear he understands and appreciates Reich�s music and he led the musicians quite well.

The Philharmonic had split its squad to perform two different programs this week: the Andriessen-Part concert Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, and the Steve Reich concert Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. Of course the single pianist of the Phil was insufficient for even a single program, much less both, so the pianists of PianoSpheres, whose minimalism concert will be Thursday evening, were prominent among the supporting forces brought in for both performances. (Also noted: the CalArts pianist who did such heavy-hauling as providing the four-octave pulse for Monday night�s In C.)

posted by Jerry Zinser 3/27/2006