In this quest, he found ready allies in Maestro Grant Gershon, the beloved leader of the Master Chorale, and Sophiline Cheam Shaprio, a Cambodian choreographer who somehow survived the horrors of the Killing Fields, to bring a world premiere performance in dance and music to an appreciative Walt Disney Concert Hall audience Sunday night.

As a team, the three artists created a work commissioned by the Los Angeles Master Chorale entitled “Spiral XII: Space Between Heaven and Earth,” a two-part collage of sung, played and danced music of extraordinary complexity that indicated, rather than described, the horrors perpetrated by the left-wing extremist Khmer Rouge, the devastation of the land and people, and the overcoming of horror by good, including the forgiveness of those acting as the agents of evil. The latter were represented by four dancers clad in purple who challenged four others (including Ms. Shapiro) representing good and so identified by wearing a lotus blossom in their hair. The “challenges” were metaphoric and nonviolent, but the implications were clear, even to a Western audience. The graceful movements of the eight Cambodian women were beautiful, their ensemble was perfection, and the wedding of their movements with Professor Ung’s score wove a fabric of cultural identity that one could not imagine in isolation from the other. This is a work that will be performed both for its reminder to civilization that political violence can and does emerge from the primeval soupcon of evil hearts, for its dramatic sights and sounds, and also for its message of redemption and love expressed through the Buddhist philosophy so clearly represented.

Adding to the complex score were vocal and instrumental singers, including sopranos Elissa Johnston and Kathleen Roland, whose voices soared high above the ensemble in glorious and dramatic fusion of reds and oranges. Ms. Johnston has recorded Ung’s Aura with the Southwest Chamber Orchestra, a work heard in concert several years ago at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. Members of the Master Chorale who added significantly to the work included Michael Lichtenauer and Daniel Chaney, tenors, Abdiel Gonzalez and Gregory Geiger, basses, and sopranos Karen Hogle Brown, Rachelle Fox and Marie Hodgson; altos Leanna Brand, Amy Fogerson and Alice Kirwan Murray, and bass Scott Graff.

Instrumentalists not only played, but sang – ostensibly representing the untrained voices of the common people. Most notable for their vocal output were percussionists Lynn Vartan and Nick Terry.

The dancers, members of the Khmer Arts Ensemble, included Chao Socheata, Kong Bonich, Mot Pharan, Noun Kaza, Pum Molyta, Sao Phirom and Mot Sovanndy, in addition to their impressive teacher, Ms. Shapiro.

The evening began with Lou Harrison’s La Koro Sutro, an Esperanto- and Sanskrit-texted choral cantata of 4^th century Mahayana Buddhist teachings on emptiness, wisdom, compassion, and enlightenment, accompanied by an American gamelan, a collection of various gongs, tubes, drums and bells, of Harrison’s own devising. In fact, the original gamelan was brought to LA from Santa Cruz by Maestro Gershon, providing authenticity to the work. Vicky Ray was employed on the Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ, while redoubtable harpist JoAnn Turovsky provided hypnotic pluckings.

The effect of La Koro Sutro was immediately noted in the number of nodding heads, as older audience members either connected with their Asian past lives or were lulled into the arms of Morpheus, almost from the first movement. The hypnotic effect was well crafted, though, and authentic, as opposed to derivative.

The Master Chorale stayed awake and alert throughout, delivering a solid choral sound core decorated by the gamelan. One could all but smell the burning hemp and joss sticks.

The straw that stirs the drink is Grant Gershon, who has caused all of this to come together, from the music and dance elements to motivating the funding that keeps ticket prices reasonable in a terrible economy.  It was his vision and determination, coupled with his enormous talents that physically and spiritually kept the two pieces flowing with the precision of his conducting fueled by a quiet, inner confidence that illuminated both performers and audience.  It is no small feat to make asymmetric sounds and movement coalesce into such perfection.  Once again it must be said, Los Angeles is lucky to have him.

- Reviewed by Douglas Neslund
 

	Nov 12  Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman recital
PROGRAM: Brahms - Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op.56b.  Bolcom- Recuerdos (Choro, Paseo, Valse Venezolano).  Mozart- Sonata in D-Major for Two Pianos, K.448 (Allegro con spirito, Andante, Allegro molto).  Rachmaninov- Symphony Dances, Op.45.  Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, pianos
L ast Wednesday night’s Ax/Bronfman duo piano recital was a refreshingly congenial affair.  Two world-renowned pianists, setting their own egos aside, played side-by-side in a collaborative, noncompetitive manner.  Together, they played for and with each other, partaking in a good-natured exchange of musical dialogs that were in turn loudly loquacious and softly intimate.   As if by magic, the large space of the Disney auditorium was transformed into a cozy drawing room for a fun-filled soirée musicale.
Or, more appropriately, a dance hall  The program comprised of works of various genres infused with or inspired by dance – from the 18th-Century Gypsy dance (Mozart) to 20th-Century Latin-American tangos (Bolcom).   Like Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, we could have danced all night with Ax and Bronfman’s delectably merry music-making. Like two champion dancers, these two pianists ‘danced’ on the keyboards with much grace and exuberance.   Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Haydn sounded full and sparkling on two pianos like the more familiar orchestral version.  The stately opening theme underwent some stunning transformations, into a witches dance, a grand march, a lilting waltz, etc. – all brilliantly executed by Ax and Bronfman with warm affection and bravura articulation.  The performance as a whole was richly satisfying. No less satisfying were the three Latin dances by William Bolcom called Recuerdos, with a little bit of American ragtime thrown in for good fun.  Mozart’s Sonata in D-Major for Two Pianos, K.448 is a classic work and here received a classy performance – full of sunny spirits and shapely, elegant lines.  The outer Allegros were merry and witty, brimming with good humor.  The gentle Andante, one of Mozart’s most sublime creations, floated and soared in weightless and timeless bliss.  At times, it seemed as if we were eavesdropping on a private tête-à-tête between two gentlemen.  The high-octane Symphonic Dances, Op.45, Rachmaninov’s final composition and originally conceived as a ballet for Fokine, were superbly handled by Ax/Bronfman.  It was passionate and clamorous where it needs to be, and quietly nostalgic in other parts.  It was a lovely evening at the Disney Hall.    - Reviewed by Truman C. Wang