Music Reviews : Druckman Leads LACO in Premiere of His Work

Three orchestras participated in the commissioning of Jacob Druckman’s “Nor Spell Nor Charm” but it was the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra that had the honor of giving the work its premiere performance Friday at the Wiltern Theatre (repeated at Ambassador Auditorium on Saturday).

The 15-minute work, “an extension and elaboration” of a song Druckman had written a year ago for the late Jan DeGaetani, is an eloquently shaped, gradually unfolding rhapsody in which constantly varying changes in texture and timbre substitute for thematic and rhythmic activity. It unfolds with remarkable fluidity; “Nor Spell Nor Charm” is free of the abrupt transitions that plague much contemporary music.

It is not free, alas, of many of the cliches that post-serial composers have been employing for the past 30 years: siren-like glissandos, static clusters in the strings and high woodwinds (interrupted by persistent barks from the brass or bassoons), pointillistic bleeps and pyramidal chords.

As conducted by the composer, the orchestra executed the work with impressive elan.

Following intermission, Norwegian cellist Truls Mork delivered a highly expressive, poignantly phrased reading of Tchaikovsky’s “Rococo” Variations. Filled with passion, boldness and expressive power, his playing proved uncommonly moving, utterly absorbing. Led from the concertmaster’s chair by Iona Brown, the orchestra provided effective support.

The concert, which began with a neat and spritely account of a Haydn Notturno, ended with that composer’s popular “Farewell” Symphony. Brown & Co. brought considerable exuberance and vitality to the rapid passages, grace and refinement to the lyrical ones, and the 30-odd musicians carried off the farewell with charm and good humor.