Music Reviews : ‘Degenerate’ Works at County Museum

If there was any one message sent by the latest Monday Evening Concert--featuring music declared “degenerate” by the Nazis--it was that we shouldn’t be too smug. After all, we have not yet come to terms with this troubling and challenging music. And though we may not feel comfortable labeling it as such, we seem to have little trouble ignoring it most of the time.

Thus the golden opportunity to uncover some seldom-heard gems, which various-sized USC ensembles, soprano Anne Marie Ketchum, baritone Steven Kimbrough and pianist Leonard Stein accomplished ably before a large audience in the Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The most startling quality of the vocal works by Hanns Eisler presented Monday--three Ballads and Two Elegies with texts by Brecht; the “Cantata in Exile” and “War Cantata” to texts by Silone--is that their direct references to political events of the time do not seem dated. Lines like “Again they’re talking of a new era,” set by Eisler in a downward creeping phrase, or “Once upon a time our leaders gave us orders,” set as a funeral dirge, speak with immediacy.

That Eisler’s settings do not become heavy-handed is due to his simple, sometimes acerbic harmonies, his matter-of-fact, tuneful vocal lines and focused accompaniments. Kimbrough sang the texts with the straightforward conviction of a believer, Stein supported dryly on the piano, and in the cantatas led a small ensemble suavely and suggestively.

Kimbrough and Stein also impressed with their directness in six Zemlinsky songs, including a robust, primal account of “Afrikanischer Tanz” to words by Langston Hughes.

Krenek’s song cycle “Durch die Nacht” proved a colorful and cosmopolitan setting of Karl Kraus poems with echoes of Weill, Stravinsky and Hindemith. Ketchum sang the challenging theatrics with energetic and rich-toned virtuosity, while conductor Donald Crockett led the accompaniment--with its spicy piccolo chatter and melodious trumpet solos--persuasively.

Crockett opened the concert with a soft-hued/pointed account of Webern’s Concerto for Nine Instruments. It concluded with a rare performance of Schoenberg’s “Accompaniment to a Cinema Scene,” with Larry Rachleff leading the USC Chamber Orchestra in an alertly rhythmic, firmly phrased performance.