Out West Arts: Performance at the end of the world

Stéphane Deneve
Photo: Lawrence K. Ho/LAT 2007

It’s August in LA and even though it’s only a week before Labor Day, our hottest months are just now getting underway. Which is why the light clouds provided relief in the form of a surprisingly cool evening for the crowd at the Hollywood Bowl last Thursday. The LA Philharmonic played under the leadership of Stéphane “Leopold” Deneve in his first Bowl appearance with a program of French masters including Berlioz, Debussy, Saint-Säens, and Ravel. And while there was little groundbreaking or new about the show, and it suffered from the awful acoustics that are part and parcel of the venue, everything was played so splendidly and with such skill and care that all the negatives melted away into wonder.

This success was in no small part due to the contribution of Jean-Yves Thibaudet who was the featured soloist in Saint-Säens’s fifth Piano Concerto. Thibaudet seems to love the West Coast and the region loves him right back - he appears as a regular fixture in both LA and SF in a variety of indoor and outdoor venues throughout the year. This piece can often be about the fireworks of the last movement, but Thibaudet had other things in mind leaving the crowd with a second movement that was nothing short of brilliant. He was a man on a mission.

But the show was far from over with Deneve leading our hometown orchestra through an especially Wagnerian version of La Mer and a rousing suite from Daphnis et Chloë. It may be the doldrums of late summer elsewhere, but the LA Philharmonic again proved that any night they are playing is likely one to remember.

Labels: Deneve, Hollywood Bowl, LA Philharmonic, Thibaudet

Stéphane Denève
Photo: J Henry Fair

I decided to wait until Saturday to travel up to San Francisco for the US premiere of John Adams’ new opera/oratorio A Flowering Tree. Why? Because the LA Philharmonic was putting on one of those shows I didn’t want to miss. I’m glad I didn’t skip it because it was fantastic.

The guest conductor, Stéphane Denève, was another of those young guns that LA loves and loves to be seen loving. He has performed around the US: in Minnesota and with the WNO, and here he was paired with Piotr Anderszewski,

Piotr Anderszewski

another relatively young celebrity pianist, for Bartok’s 3rd Piano Concerto. Now there are two great tastes that go great together – Anderszewski who is both supremely talented and a hottie, and the Bartok piano concertos, which I absolutely love. Needless to say I was not disappointed. His playing was both cerebral and fun, and the second movement was a beautiful and delicate masterpiece.

Copyright: Warner Brothers

Denève didn’t let Anderszewski take all the glory, though. He led the Phil through the very well-tred Tchaikovsky’s 4th symphony. Here, though, it was very exciting and may be the best live performance of this work I’ve yet seen. Of course Denève does not have Anderszewski’s hotness factor given that he has saddled himself with a hairdo I had back in college. Of course it does have a touch of that Bugs Bunny/Leopold Stokowski factor. Denève is coming back next year as well, and I look forward to getting to bask in his talent once again then.

Labels: Deneve