If one was hoping for a quiet Friday evening in Los Angeles, Walt Disney Concert Hall was not the place to be. Music Director Gustavo Dudamel helmed an extravagantly colorful and high-energy program to mark Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Though none of the three works selected were explicitly about the holiday, they celebrated the rich orchestral tradition of Latin America, and all engaged a vast percussion battery to add to the excitement. Altogether there was only about an hour of music, but it certainly packed a punch.
Dudamel first transported us to Brazil in the Chôros no. 10 by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Caustic chords opened, decorated by fluttering filigree in the flute. Rhythmic complexities abounded, bringing to life a bustling street scene in Rio. The musical language artfully blended Stravinskian harmonies with authentic Brazilian folk influences. Sultrier material contrasted, and at roughly the midpoint, the Philharmonic was joined by the voices of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The rhythmic vocal writing saw the singers function as more of a percussion ensemble than a chorus. But that made it all the more striking when the melody of the titular choro, Rasga o Coração (Rend the Heart) soared above.
The remainder of the program featured Mexican composers, one from this century, one from the last. Gabriela Ortiz’ Yanga was written in 2019 to mark the LA Phil’s centennial, and was originally intended to pair with Beethoven’s Ninth. An 18-minute conception for orchestra, chorus and percussion ensemble, it made a formidable impression in telling the tale of the eponymous Gaspar Yanga. African-born, Yanga led a group of former slaves in Mexico to victory over an attempted recapture by the Spanish in 1609.
Atmospheric vocalizations began, with the combined forces swelling to great depths. The four-member Tambuco Percussion Ensemble was engaged for the extensive percussion scoring. A passage for the quartet alone put their virtuosity on full display, before they seamlessly melded with orchestra and chorus. This is a work that demands everything from the performers onstage, and they certainly delivered, culminating in a rousing conclusion amidst repeated cries of freedom.
Silvestre Revueltas composed the score to the film La noche de los mayas in 1939, the year before his death. It was thus left to others to prepare a concert version of the film score, an undertaking first done by Paul Hindemith. The weekend’s performances offered a realization by José Yves Limantour which construes the Revueltas original as something akin to a four-movement symphony.
Thundering bass drum and the crashing tam-tam opened, announcing a bracing theme with dissonances multiplying. There was perhaps a bit of cinematic kitsch here, but an arresting opening nonetheless. A more inward moment found lyrical beauty in gently arching strings and pulsating winds. A frenetic dance segment followed to preface the slow movement, an extended love song marked by rich melody in the strings and some lovely playing from the clarinets.
Such repose was harshly upended by the sudden snap of an aggressive pizzicato in the closing Night of Enchantment. No less than 14 percussists formed the spine of the orchestra, dousing the score with kinetic energy to paint a vibrant scene on the Yucatán. It would be hard to imagine a better advocate for this repertoire than this orchestra and conductor.
As an unexpected encore, vocalist Ángela Aguilar joined the Philharmonic in a rendition of La Llorona, a Mexican folk song associated with Día de los Muertos. A colorful close to a colorful evening.
