Music Reviews : Nono Tribute at Monday Evening Concert

The occasion was sad, but the results happy as the latest Monday Evening Concert at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art paid tribute to Luigi Nono, who died earlier this year at the age of 66.

Nono himself was represented by the “Canciones a Guiomar,” a compact cycle from 1962 on poetry by Antonio Machado. The wide-ranging vocal line is suggestive, reduced to elemental melismas by the end, while relying on direct speech in the middle. The percussion-rich accompaniment provides punctuation and understated context for the brooding voice.

Soprano Dasietta Kim floated easily in the part, her cool, clear voice the disembodied distillation of yearning. Juan Orrego-Benavente led the mixed ensemble in pertinent support.

Kim was also the ever-fluent soloist in Luciano Berio’s “Chamber Music,” on texts by James Joyce. She dealt expressively with the pictorial writing, although the rhythmically sly monotone lay too low for maximum impact. Clarinetist Michael Grego, cellist Sebastian Toettcher and harpist Liesl Erman interacted with integrity and point, guided by Orrego-Benavente.

Berio also had his stunning “Sequenza VII” on the program, a very virtuosic etude for oboe, noodling with increasing complexity around an electronic drone. David Sherr was the protagonist in a performance of wonderfully lithe bravado.

The “Quattro Vecchie Canzoni” and the operatic outtake “Mondi Celesti” by Nono’s teacher Gian-Francesco Malipiero made pleasant vehicles for tenor Jonathan Mack. The former comprise a well-connected cycle of modal raptures, while the latter is an emotional encounter with transcendence, opulently scored for modest forces.

Mack sang with gleaming sound--particularly in the exalted fervor of “Mondi Celesti”--and supple, sensitive phrasing. Orrego-Benavente conducted both with accommodating nuance and a supportive sense of direction.

Bruno Maderna’s arid, pointillistic Serenata No. 2 opened the second half, while Luigi Dallapiccola’s “Piccola Musica Notturna” and “Divertimento in Quattro Esercizi” framed the program.