Saturday, November 30, 2019

Oliver Knussen at the LA Phil


Walt Disney Concert Hall
Photo by Lisa Hirsch


Two concerts are coming up at the LA Phil featuring the music of the late composer and conductor Oliver Knussen. We don't seem to get much of his music up here, alas. I have plans the next couple of weekends and honestly I can't face getting on a plane just now, so I cannot, dammit, attend. If you're near LA, though, you might want to check these out, especially since both are conducted by the great Susanna Mälkki and feature the fabulous Leila Josefowicz:

Friday, December 6, at 8PM
Saturday, December 7, at 2PM
Sunday, December 8, at 2PM

Susanna Mälkki, conductor
Leila Josefowicz, violin

KNUSSEN Flourish with Fireworks (except Friday)
KNUSSEN Violin Concerto
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”

The late Oliver Knussen, acclaimed as composer and conductor, had a long connection with the LA Phil. His Violin Concerto is, by turns, intensely dramatic, lyrical, somber and skittish, and – as expected from a skilled conductor – it’s masterfully orchestrated. Thrilling to this day, Beethoven’s “Eroica” is one of the most revolutionary works in Western music, expanding the Classical symphony in almost every way imaginable.

[Yeah, okay, I wouldn't mind hearing Mälkki conduct the Eroica, but that's not the draw here.]


Tuesday, December 10, at 8PM

Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group
Susanna Mälkki, conductor
Leila Josefowicz, violin
John Novacek, piano

Co-curated by Susanna Mälkki and Leila Josefowicz

Colin MATTHEWS Hidden Variables
KNUSSEN Reflection
Helen GRIME A Cold Spring
Huw WATKINS Piano Quartet
KNUSSEN Ophelia Dances Book 1
KNUSSEN Two Organa
HARVEY Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco

To honor the memory of the LA Phil’s talented and beloved colleague Oliver Knussen, Mälkki and Josefowicz have programmed three of his remarkable creations and surrounded them with chamber-sized music by his friends, colleagues, and students. Come celebrate a musical life. 

2 comments:

Robert Gordon said...

I will try to get to both of these. It looks like the Dec 7 and Dec 10 performances both have enough unsold seats so that senior rush tickets should be available -- I just have to get to the box office two hours before showtime.

I feel as you do about hearing the Eroica. At some point in the late '80s the Phil gave an immense performance of it under Carlo Maria Giulini: slightly under tempo, with winds doubled, 10 double basses, and all the repeats taken -- an hour long. Nobody would do that now, but it was overwhelming, and I haven't felt a need to hear it since then (although of course I have).

Lisa Hirsch said...

I could have heard Giulini and did not, and I regret it. That performance sounds astonishing.

Me, I need to order tickets to Salonen's upcoming concerts here.