You’ll have three chances this weekend to see violinist Leila Josefowicz plays Oliver Knussen’s Violin Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The concerts begin on Friday night and will continue with matinee performances on Saturday and Sunday. Susanna Mälkki, Principal Guest Conductor of the LA Phil, will conduct.
When you look at the website for these concerts they are billed as Beethoven’s Eroica (aka Third Symphony.) There is undeniable power and beauty in this symphony. When it premiered in Vienna in 1805, it was clear the composer had set a new high bar for symphonic composition. Beethoven’s four movements moved the symphonic form into new and daring (for the times) direction. No longer was a symphony purely for the delight of the audience. This was a work that dared say and do more than just entertain. Beethoven expresses big ideas with this symphony.
If you saw the film The Soloist, you might recall a scene where Steve Lopez (yes, the Los Angeles Times writer – played in the film by Robert Downey, Jr.) takes Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx) to a rehearsal by the LA Philharmonic. Esa-Pekka Salonen is conducting the rehearsal. The music, Beethoven’s Eroica, enters Ayers’ soul in a truly profound way.
Contemporary music is at the heart of Leila Josefowicz’s soul. She’s long been an advocate of late 20th and 21st century composers. The person probably nearest and dearest to her heart was the late composer Oliver Knussen (he passed away in 2018).
Knussen had a close and fruitful relationship with the LA Philharmonic as well. It was a relationship that lasted over 30 years.
Though Josefowicz was not the first person to perform this complicated and daring concerto, she is no doubt the person who has performed it the most. She toured extensively with Knussen with this work.
Though I’ve never seen the concerto performed live, I can tell you from multiple listenings that this is a wonderfully complex piece of music that reveals more and more of itself with repeated listenings. This opportunity to hear Josefowicz perform this live is irresistible.
Los Angeles audiences have been given, through the adventurous programming at the LA Phil, an incredible exposure to contemporary music. With Josefowicz as one of its biggest advocates, I strongly recommend attending one of these three performances.
Also of note is that this it the first of two programs celebrating the life and work of Knussen. The other concert, part of the Green Umbrella Program, finds Josefowicz and Mälkki teaming up again for a program they curated that features three works by Knussen and the work of four other composers. A Tribute to Oliver Knussen takes place on Tuesday, December 10th.
Go here to read our interview with Josefowicz about Oliver Knussen.
For tickets on Friday go here.
For tickets on Saturday go here.
For tickets on Sunday go here.
Photo: Leila Josefowicz performing with Oliver Knussen conducting (Photo by Rikimaru Hotta/Courtesy of LeilaJosefowicz.com)