One of Minimalism’s shaping spirits,
John Adams is a composer of distinctive stylistic élan. He made an early decision to break with the modernist aesthetic prevailing in post-war Europe and U.S. academia, launching a vigorous exploration of Minimalism infused with American vernacular influences. This Friday and Sunday
the LA PHIL Presents:
Adams Conducts Adams- In the 2000-year-old South Indian folk tale
A Flowering Tree, a beautiful young girl devises a plan to help her impoverished family: she transforms herself into a tree, from which she and her sister gather the fragrant flowers, weave them into garlands, and sell them at the marketplace. They carefully perform the ritual, which requires two pitchers of water for the girl to turn into the tree, and two pitchers of water for her to turn back into human form. A prince from the nearby palace spies on her and wants her for his wife. After their wedding, the prince commands the girl to metamorphose for him. She complies, but his sister watches from a hiding place and, envious of her sister-in-law’s powers, forces the girl to perform the ceremony for a group of her friends. After the girl turns into a tree, however, they break her branches, tear off her flowers, and abandon her, without helping her turn back into human shape. She languishes in a netherworld, not quite tree, not quite human.
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Come and celebrate the arrival of Gustavo Dudamel. This not-to-be missed evening of musical spirit will transform the Music Center Plaza into an open-air park setting for pillows, blankets and music lovers. Multiple large plasma screens will simulcast the Inaugural Concert live from Walt Disney Concert Hall. Watch under the stars with a picnic and friends as Dudamel takes the podium to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Featured music will include Mahler's Symphony No. 1 and the world premiere of John Adams' "City Noir," which was commissioned by the orchestra.
