Chinese-born composer Tan Dun’s “Heaven Earth Mankind (Symphony 1997),†written to celebrate the reunification of Hong Kong with China, is difficult to mount. It’s a big-hearted, sprawling journey for players and listeners, requiring a large orchestra and an even larger children’s chorus.
It also demands a virtuoso for the solo cello, in the spotlight for most of the score’s 67 minutes. Yo-Yo Ma premiered the work, with Tan on the podium, in Hong Kong in 1997.
See more of Entertainment’s top stories on Facebook >>
On Sunday afternoon in a sold-out Walt Disney Concert Hall, the American Youth Symphony led by David Alan Miller gave a remarkable performance of “Heaven Earth Mankind†with more than 150 members of the National Children’s Chorus. The featured soloist was Coleman Itzkoff, 24, principal cellist of the youth symphony, an accomplished local training orchestra. He met the work’s myriad challenges with astonishing prowess.
Itzkoff embodied the unifying, exploratory spirit of the piece. Even while navigating the score’s many technically thorny passages, Itzkoff seemed to be having a good time. His communicative performance was matched by Miller, a former Los Angeles Philharmonic associate conductor who has been music director of the Albany Symphony in New York since 1992. He perfectly paced the young players, ages 15 to 27, shaping each section of the score with affection and care while maintaining a sense of exuberant spontaneity.
The orchestra includes a huge battery of percussion — gongs and ancient Chinese chime-bells, along with more traditional Western instruments, including timpani and snare drums. In the first section, “Heaven,†they embraced the work’s formidable demands with winning virtuosity, producing rich-hued sonorities. Ditto the National Children’s Chorus, who sounded aptly ethereal. The stirring symphony brasses produced especially warm and golden tones.
1/28
When the Mariinsky Ballet performed “Cinderella†at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Oct. 8, even the wondrous Diana Vishneva as Cinderella couldn’t bring unity to the movement, but she danced with flawless, fearless authority. Read more >>
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 2/28
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins leaves a rehearsal of his play “Appropriate,†opening Oct. 4 at the Mark Taper Forum, to eat first with a reporter, then later with his agent and some unspecified Hollywood people, who presumably hope to lure him away from the field and city where he has experienced meteoric success in the last five years. Read more >>
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 3/28
Soprano Abigail Fischer performs Oct. 7 in the opera “Songs from the Uproar†at REDCAT in Los Angeles.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 4/28
Moisés Kaufman’s muscular revival of “Bent,†which played at the Mark Taper Forum, opening on July 26, renders what many had written off as a parochial drama about the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany into a gripping tale of love, courage and identity. Read review >>
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 5/28
Malaviki Sarukkai performing at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica on July 19, 2015. Sarukkai is the best-known exponent of South Indian classical dance.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 6/28
Bramwell Tovey conducts the L.A. Phil with pianist Garrick Ohlsson in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at the Hollywood Bowl on July 14, 2015.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 7/28
Argentine dancer Herman Cornejo performs in the West Coast premiere of “Tango y Yo†as part of the Latin portion of BalletNow.
(Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times) 9/28
Dancers rehearse a one-night-only performance choregraphed by Raiford Rogers, one of L.A.’s most-noted choreographers. This year the dance will be to a new original score by Czech composer Zbynek Mateju.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 10/28
Oscar-winning actor Ben Kingsley in Los Angeles on July 9, 2015.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 11/28
Mia Sinclair Jenness, left, Mabel Tyler and Gabby Gutierrez alternate playing the title role in the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “Matilda†at the Ahmanson Theatre. The three are shown during a day at Santa Monica Pier on June 16, 2015.
(Christina House / For The Times) 12/28
American Contemporary Ballet Company members Zsolt Banki and Cleo Magill perform a dance routine originally done by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. This performance was presented as part of “Music + Dance: L.A.†on Friday, June 19, 2015.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 13/28
Miguel, a Grammy-winning guitarist, producer, singer and lyricist, is photographed in San Pedro on Wednesday, June 10, 2015. His new album “Wildheart,†explores L.A.’s “weird mix of hope and desperation.â€
(Christina House / For The Times) 14/28
Los Angeles-born artist Mark Bradford is photographed in front of “The Next Hot Line.†This piece is part of his show “Scorched Earth,†installed at the Hammer Museum in Westwood, June 11, 2015.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 15/28
Paige Faure, center, plays Ella in “
Cinderella,†which opened at the Ahmanson Theater on March 18.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 16/28
The Los Angeles Opera concluded its season with “The Marriage of Figaro,†with Roberto Tagliavini as Figaro and Pretty Yende as Susanna, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 17/28
“Trinket,†a monumental installation by Newark-born, Chicago-based artist William Pope.L, features an American flag that is 16 feet tall and 45 feet long. The work is on display at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA through June 28.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 18/28
Conductor
Gustavo Dudamel’s contract with the Los Angeles Philharmonic has been extended to mid-2022.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 19/28
Alex Knox, from left, Carolyn Ratteray, Lynn Milgrim and Paige Lindsey White in “Pygmalion†in spring 2015 at the Pasadena Playhouse.
(Mariah Tauger / For The Times) 20/28
On March 17, Google celebrated the addition of more than 5,000 images to its Google Street Art project with a launch party at the Container Yard in downtown Los Angeles.
(Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times) 21/28
Los Angeles architect Jon Jerde, who was outspoken about his opinions on the
state of public space, died on
Feb. 9. The CityWalk at Universal Studios is among his famous designs.
(Christina House / For The Times) 22/28
Diana Vishneva as Princess Aurora in
American Ballet Theatre‘s production of “
Sleeping Beauty†that premiered at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in March.
(Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times) 23/28
Los Angeles Philharmonic assistant conductor
Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla leads the orchestra in her first L.A. Phil subscription concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall on March 1 in a program of Mozart, Beethoven and Stravinsky.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 24/28
Rachele Gilmore as Alice and Christopher Lemmings as Mouse with supernumeraries in “
Alice in Wonderland.†Susanna Malkki conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in this collaboration with the L.A. Opera at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 25/28
Marcia Rodd, left, and Dick Cavett reprise their roles in “
Hellman v. McCarthy,†a play inspired by actual events on “The Dick Cavett Show,†at Theatre 40 in February. The production starred Cavett as himself and Rodd as literary celebrity Mary McCarthy.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 26/28
Irish playwright
Conor McPherson‘s latest play, “
The Night Alive,†ran at the Geffen Playhouse from Feb. 11 through March 15.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 27/28
Ric Salinas, left, Herbert Siguenza and Richard Montoya, of the three-man Latino theater group Culture Clash, brought their “Chavez Ravine: An L.A. Revival†to the Kirk Douglas Theatre to mark the group’s 30th anniversary. The play ran from Feb. 4 through March 1.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The second section, “Earth,†opens with the sounds of a Hong Kong street opera company, a captivating tape made by Tan of a dying tradition. “Earth,†a mostly soft John Cage-like concerto for percussion and cello, with enticing flourishes from the woodwinds adding color and texture, showed Itzkoff at his most virtuosic. Playing pizzicato, strumming and tapping his cello, Itzkoff conjured Chinese stringed instruments, like the pipa and ruan, an ancient four-stringed moon-shaped lute. There’s also a substantial cadenza for the cellist. The long movement made the biggest demands on the audience, but Miller and the orchestra sustained interest throughout.
An invigorating yell by Miller from the podium got “Mankind†off to a riveting start. But the pace remained pensive until the chorus returned, the children’s voices fading, and eventually leading into a jubilant conclusion quoting Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.â€
The concert began with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Serenade to Music,†with the youth symphony and about 35 of the children’s chorus conducted by Luke McEndarfer, the group’s artistic director. For some reason, the four soloists were situated at the back of the orchestra. They could not be heard enunciating clearly, and it took a few moments to locate where the solo voice was coming from. Soprano Sarah Toutounchian projected the best. The others did well under the circumstances.
