Picasso and Rivera LACMA February 1
Our second only in LA experience (the first
involved driving forty-five minutes on busy Freeways to catch a flic…one that
will likely never play anywhere near Kenmore…but I digress.) We took in the
pricey but all together worthwhile Picasso and Rivera: Conversations Across
Time at LACMA. Who knew they knew each other? Not I. We learned that both had
been admitted to their country’s academies at an early age, both showed similar
novel approaches to the classicism in which they were instructed. (I’d seen
Picasso juvenilia before; Rivera’s, seen in this show, are remarkably similar.)
We learned that Rivera moved to Paris in the early 20th century and fell in
with Picasso, Braque and Gris where he took up cubism. Picasso and Rivera
cubist paintings, hung by each other are remarkably similar. Each, of course,
went their separate ways and are best known for the work they did subsequently.
Rivera is best known for his murals and since they can’t be put on display
here, the elaborate cartoons that went into the murals’ creation sufficiently
substitute.
This is one of the best curated shows we’ve
seen. That includes a very large screen video that lovingly pans over details
of Picasso’s Guernica and Rivera’s mural at the City College of San Francisco
then finishes with each successively full screen.
“The Abduction from the Seraglio” by Mozart
LA Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, February 8
Rivera is best known for his murals and since they can’t be put
on display here, the elaborate cartoons that went into the murals creation
sufficiently substitute.
This is one of the best curated shows we’ve seen. That includes a very large
screen video that lovingly pans over details of Picasso’s Guernica and Rivera’s
mural at the City College of San Francisco then finishes with each successively
full screen
We’ve come to expect
superior staging from this company and we weren’t disappointed. The opera is
transposed to the 1920’s. The set, the interior of a lavish railcar on the
Orient Express, can slide side to side revealing attendant cars. Scenery rolls
by outside. The costumes, lighting, the direction, all of what is stagecraft
was world class. The performers were all technically terrific if not
exceptional. Best in the cast: Basso Profundo Morris Robinson as Osmin (right) and
Soprano So Young Park as Blonde (far left). Canny opera goers Shelley, Jennifer, Erik and
I, were, if not blown away, left pleased that we’d been there.
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Walt Disney Hall, February 10.
We’re back in the magnificent Disney Hall. It’s a chance to hear
new music in one of the world’s great music venues. Composer Thomas Adès is at
the podium. He opens with Sibelius, “The Bard”, light but lovely harp
dominated, followed by Saint-Saëns lively “Danse Macabre”. Then it’s the US
premier of his own “Lieux Retrouvés” re-orchestrated from a piano-cello duo
into a full on four movement cello concerto. Collaborator Steven Isserlis plays
cello with abandon. Potent stuff and in its third movement, moments of
incandescent beauty.
At
intermission we explore the ever so many contrasting parts of this striking
Frank Geary structure. We discover that the reason the section in which our
seats are located is called the garden level is its doors open to a charming
garden. It’s a cool rainy night so we don’t linger but mark where, when next
we’re back here, we’ll head with our intermission flutes of champagne.
The
second half of the program is given over to Adès’s “Totentanz”. This is the
West Coast premiere of Adès’s 2013 composition. The original soloists, mezzo
Christianne Stotijn and baritone Simon Keenlyside, are here. Set to an
anonymous 15th Century text, Keenlyside intones death calling out the highest
to the lowest to his lethal dance while Stotijn replies as each faces his or
her fate. It’s at times powerful, a knight meets death in a barrage of
percussion, at times breathtakingly beautiful, a young maiden’s lament in duet
with death soars to Wagnerian heights. This is a unique and powerful
composition, a strong candidate to rank with the best new music of the new
century.
Steven Isserlis plays cello. Potent stuff and
in its third movement, moments of incandescent beauty.
At intermission we explore the ever so many contrasting parts of this striking
Frank Geary structure. We discover that the reason the section in which our
seats are located is called the garden level is its doors open to a charming
garden. It’s a cool rainy night so we don’t linger but mark where, when next
we’re back here, we’ll head with our intermission flutes of champagne.
The second half of the program is given over to Adès’s “Totentanz”. This is the
West Coast premiere of Adès’s 2013 composition. The original soloists, mezzo
Christianne Stotijn and baritone Simon Keenlyside, are here. Set to an
anonymous 15th Century text, Keenlyside intones death calling out the highest
to the lowest to his lethal dance while Stotijn replies as each faces his or
her fate. It’s at times powerful, a knight meets death in a barrage of
percussion, at times breathtakingly beautiful, a young maiden’s lament in duet
with death is Wagnerian. This is a unique and powerful composition, a strong
candidate to rank with the best new music of the new century. Steven Isserlis
plays cello. Potent stuff and in its third movement, moments of incandescent
beauty.
At intermission we explore the ever so many contrasting parts of this striking
Frank Geary structure. We discover that the reason the section in which our
seats are located is called the garden level is its doors open to a charming
garden. It’s a cool rainy night so we don’t linger but mark where, when next we’re
back here, we’ll head with our intermission flutes of champagne.
The second half of the program is given over to Adès’s “Totentanz”. This is the
West Coast premiere of Adès’s 2013 composition. The original soloists, mezzo
Christianne Stotijn and baritone Simon Keenlyside, are here. Set to an
anonymous 15th Century text, Keenlyside intones death calling out the highest
to the lowest to his lethal dance while Stotijn replies as each faces his or
her fate. It’s at times powerful, a knight meets death in a barrage of
percussion, at times breathtakingly beautiful, a young maiden’s lament in duet
with death is Wagnerian. This is a unique and powerful composition, a strong
candidate to rank with the best new music of the new century.
