Walt Disney Concert Hall – January 11, 2026
This was one I got during the LA Phil friends and family sale, so my ticket was $33. I had planned to go by myself because I thought Julie would have already moved by now. Turns out she’s still in town so I texted her to see if she wanted to meet up afterward – she’s less than 10 minutes (traffic permitting) from WDCH but she misunderstood and thought I was inviting her. Oops! I sent her a picture of the fiber optic drape in front of the organ and she replied, “You’re in your seat? I’m downstairs!” She ended up getting a ticket about 6 seats away from me so all was not lost.
The show opened with Sibelius’ The Oceanides, Op. 73, a beautiful piece. Then we moved on to Gabriella Smith’s Rewilding. Gabriella Smith was present to introduce her piece, which she said she composed for Esa-Pekka Salonen. Her introduction seemed to go on for almost as long as the piece. She explained to us that she is very concerned about the climate crisis and when she is not making music, she spends her time with a group dedicated to turning once industrial spaces back to the natural spaces they once were. She told us about a former military airport that they are currently working on and explained how they remove the invasive species and plant native flora. They know they are successful when birds and animals return to the area. This piece was listed as c. 25 minutes and was the longest piece in the program. It was not good. There was a lot of weird percussion – upside down bicycles with wheels being spun and banged on, vegetables being broken in half, metal bowls being clattered – and nothing was what I would call tonal. It was mostly just a dissonant racket, which I will remind you was the LONGEST PIECE in the program. The fiber optic curtain changed colors and flashed so at least I had that to look at, but it was hard to look away from the weird percussion. And Gabriella Smith really missed an opportunity to move from the dissonance into something melodic and beautiful to signify the return of the birds and animals.
After intermission, with the LA Master Chorale and orchestra in place, Liv Redpath and Jingjing Xu took the stage for Debussy’s La damoiselle élue. It was beautiful. It was sung in French and the English translation was helpfully included in our program, so it was easy to follow along. Jingjing Xu sang the part of the narrator, only the women of the LA Master Chorale sang in this piece. Liv Redpath sang the part of the Blessed Damozel. They were all wonderful.
The program concluded with Scriabin’s Prometheus, Poem of Fire, Op. 60. It took a few minutes for them to reset the stage, but not long enough for an intermission. The Steinway was front and center. Jean-Yves Thibaudet made his appearance in his signature shiny outfit and sparkly Louboutins. His style complimented this piece perfectly – grand and dramatic. When the chorus came in – the full Master Chorale – the entire room filled with sound. I enjoyed it immensely.