We went to Disney Hall last Thursday. I thought it was the opening of the new season but they had a guest conductor, Teddy Abrams, who was also premiering a piece he’d written for, and in collaboration with, Ray Chen. Whew; should have broken up that sentence.
Teddy is a young guy who was born (I think) and still living in Kentucky and is the Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra. The show started with something called A Short Piece for Symphony—and that’s exactly what it was. I don’t remember much about it but it didn’t irritate me so that’s fine.
The second piece, Abram’s Seasons of America, was really enjoyable. You could tell one of Abrams’ influences was Copeland which is appropriate. I heard the strains of a Protestant hymn so I suspect Abrams is a good Lutheran boy from Kentucky. It’s nice to have someone in the arts not crapping all over the United States while they beg for money. Ray Chen was the violinist and he did a wonderful job. He sounded American but he’s Australian. I guess he’s spent so much time here he adopted our accent. Or I wasn’t listening carefully. Whatever. Lovely work. It’ll be premiered in Louisville later. Oh, I have to comment on the wardrobes of the guest artists. The LA Phil no longer wears tuxedos. The men wear black suits with black shirts and the women wear solid black, either dresses or slacks. Chen wore his black tuxedo suit (probably what he usually performs in) and a dark shirt. It wasn’t black so I suspect he had to borrow something. That tickled me. And Teddy Abrams wore black dress shoes with red soles. Does Jimmy Choo make shoes for men? Cute.
After the intermission we heard Ives’ Three Places in New England. I’ve never developed a taste for Ives but at least I could sit quietly through it. Not so the idiots sitting around me. We had to ask three people to turn their damn phones off. The women were affronted: How dare we interrupt their scrolling! But they shut off their phones. Guess they didn’t hear the request at the beginning of the show to turn off all phones. Or they were so entitled they didn’t think it applied to them. It does! Rant! I’m not going to be so polite next time. I’ve haven’t gone to war in years. Maybe it’s time I sharpened my weapons.
The show finished off with An American In Paris. That’s always fun. I like Abrams. It’s nice to see an American in some of these roles. Our people are just as good, if not better, than the tired old Europeans they keep foisting off on us. On that note, our new Music Director is English. Wonder what he’ll be like. Another tired old European? I know they all need money but still…
Almost forgot: When we got to our seats, there was a ‘thank you’ note from the Phil organization for our patronage. And it was hand-written on an old card that stated Gustavo Dudamel was the Music Director. Well, he was. But as a good Midwesterner I understood the ‘Can’t waste a thing’ philosophy. I snickered.