Vibrant Program of Schoenberg, Ravel, Tchaikovsky in Mostly-Asian Week
/By Truman C. Wang
2/20/2025
george li, xian zhang
Before Dudamel’s return at the end of February for the eagerly awaited Mahler concerts, the hit parade of guest conductors/potential Music Directors continued at the L.A. Phil. On February 8, Chinese conductor Xian Zhang led a dynamic, eclectic program of Michael Abels' "Emerge" – a piece full of shimmering textures and propulsive rhythms that showcased the orchestra's versatility – and “The Mermaid” tone poem by Zemlinsky (Mahler’s contemporary and romantic rival). This poor “Mermaid” struggled to stay afloat under the dense, heavy-handed Romantic over-scoring and failed to ravish the ear or engender emotion like Dvorak’s magical ‘mermaid’ score for Rusalka Conductor Zhang managed here and there to bring out the vibrant passages (the brass choir in the finale, the wind ensemble playing against divided strings, etc.) and the orchestra responded with rich, gleaming sound, but still it was a long forty minutes to get through. Pianist George Li played Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. That, alone, was the raison d'etre of this concert. It was a bold, immensely satisfying performance, full of virtuosic fire in the outer movements and poetic sensitivity in the slow andantino. “Firebird” finale was an unexpected and remarkable encore by Mr. Li, conjuring up full orchestral sonorities and colors with only ten fingers, that left the audience awestruck.
Paavo Järvi, son of legendary Estonian maestro Neemi Järvi, conducted the next concert, on February 16. First work on the program was Concerto for String Orchestra by Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz. It’s a vital work pulsating with rhythmic energy from the interplay of the tutti and the constantly-changing concertino solo instruments.
Korean star pianist Seong-Jin Cho has made a name for himself as a preeminent interpreter of the music of Maurice Ravel. He played Ravel's Piano Concerto in G with classical poise, jazzy spontaneity, and whimsical wit. The pristine fingerwork in first movement, the beautifuly weighted notes in the sublime adagio, and the sparkling virtuosity in the finale all made this a memorable reading. A few nights ago, Cho played an all-Ravel marathon with three parts and two intermissions. Those who went told me it was nothing short of dazzling.
The concert concluded with Schoenberg's orchestration of Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 1. Järvi navigated this dense scoring with remarkable transparency, allowing Brahms's original chamber music interactions to shine through the expanded orchestral canvas. The gypsy-style Rondo alla Zingarese finale was a crowd pleaser, ending in a blazing ovation.
Truman C. Wang is Editor-in-Chief of Classical Voice, whose articles have appeared in the Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, other Southern California publications, as well as the Hawaiian Chinese Daily. He studied Integrative Biology and Music at U.C. Berkeley.