The LA Phil New Music Group conducted by Brad Lubman at Disney Hall presented an exceptionally enjoyable evening of the meditative and entrancing music of Steve Reich, which is distinguished by his minimalist compositions of intricate repetitive patterns and harmonic gradual shifts in sound. Though not designed explicitly as a place of worship, Disney Hall provided an intimate and womb-like container for our opportunity to take in a couple hours of shared solace during what is the first week of Spring and Ramadan and the upcoming days of Passover and Easter.
A masterful conductor of complex contemporary works, Lubman led the exceedingly talented, New Music Group through a performance of three works, two of which were first LA Phil performances, with precision, clarity and energy.
Double Take featured two sextets of violins, cellos, vibraphones, pianos, clarinets, and flutes that mirror each other, both in their crescent bilateral staging and in echoing and responding to each other throughout the three movements. The work begins with a fast paced and lively overlap of complex rhythms, transitioning into a slow contemplative and tranquil mood featuring the vibraphones and pianos, and then back to conclude with a more synchronized fast and energetic movement.
Traveler’s Prayer, composed prior to and during the pandemic in 2020, was inspired by the Jewish prayer that asks for the protection of a traveler embarking on a journey and includes excerpts from Genesis, Exodus, and Psalms. The work features emotionally subtle and contemplative chanting in Hebrew performed by sopranos Holly Sedilles and Ashley Fabian and tenors Arnold Livingston Geis and Edmond Rodriguez whose voices harmonize with each other and with the string ensemble highlighted with Reich’s use of vibraphone and piano.
After an intermission, we immersed ourselves into the multi-media sensory experience of Reich/Richter. Composed in 2019 and commissioned by the LA Phil, the work was developed as a collaboration between Reich and the visual artist Gerhard Richter and filmmaker Corinne Beil whose computer-generated Moving Picture (946-3) was projected on a large screen behind the performers. The six-movement work is once again classic Reich featuring his signature pulsing rhythms and hypnotic textures. Richter‘s abstractions, created combining painting, photography and digital manipulation, transform from pulsating colorful lines to a continuously changing tapestry of muted psychedelic-like imagery.
The evening concluded with rousing applause for Lubman and the performers who were then joined on stage by the 86-year old Steve Reich taking in and bowing to his own ovation.
For upcoming performances by the LA Phil, go to laphil.com; To learn more about Steve Reich, including to listen to his music and watch videos of performances, go to stevereich.com