Master Chorale Sings Salonen’s Songs

“Wildly broad-ranging” is how Grant Gershon described his latest Los Angeles Master Chorale program, in a pre-concert talk at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Saturday night.

And so it was. But not chaotic. This was an eclectic, balanced musical agenda, in four languages, titled “Expressions of Love.” And, overall, it pleased thoroughly.

Novelty characterized the program, without disorienting the listener. The U.S. premiere of two strikingly sensuous choral love songs by Esa-Pekka Salonen was the centerpiece, surrounded by unfamiliar works by familiar composers. The mix became invigorating, the evening short.

Salonen’s “Two Songs to Poems of Ann Jaderlund” capture the listener through seductive tone-clusters, attractive melodic cells and an unflagging sense of musical continuity.

They were written during Salonen’s yearlong sabbatical from the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the 75th anniversary of the Swedish Radio Choir.

In the performance, Gershon switched the order of the two pieces without informing the audience. But only those who tried to follow the printed words may have been confused; the pleasures here were in hearing the compelling sounds of the singing, not in monitoring the Swedish text. At the end, conductor Gershon shared bows with the composer, the popular L.A. Philharmonic music director.

Seldom-heard music by Lili Boulanger, “Les Sirenes” and “Renouveau,” and Francis Poulenc, his “Eight French Songs” from 1945-46, provided a contrast of styles with unfamiliar part songs in German by Schubert (for men) and Schumann (for women). Lightness and buoyancy marked all the performances, introduced genially by Gershon’s witty comments.

The singing, often admirable for purity of tone and clear enunciation, was not consistently polished, however. And balances between sections could be haphazard. Here were effective performances sometimes lacking the full, handsome sound usually associated with this ensemble.

Throughout the evening, Gershon appropriately shared his bows with Vicki Ray, the chorale’s resourceful, sensitive and virtuosic pianist.