Classical and Casual Fridays

In my early 20s, I became a big Esa-Pekka Salonen fan.

I often shelled out the bucks to watch his magical baton work in front of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and dragged my friends along. I was entranced. They were bored. They skipped out at intermission or, worse, between movements. No one ever came along twice.

So I understand why the Philharmonic people have arrived at the point of Casual Friday. It’s a fun, even mildly radical, idea. One by one, they’re trying to remove the hurdles between young people and orchestral music. First to go, the dressy clothes. For these shows, they invite the audience and the orchestra to arrive in their rumpled finest. The third casual program of the season is Friday, featuring Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.

The Philharmonic’s second Casual Friday in January featured Salonen sporting jeans and a T-shirt, the orchestra in khaki pants and various anti-fashion ensembles and the crowd not sure how to dress but stuck somewhere between dressy and running shoes.

For the main performance, the orchestra appeared onstage in street clothes. Bass clarinet player David Howard explained in a humorous and very casual introduction that no tank tops, shorts or white sneakers were allowed, but otherwise the musicians could dress as they liked. In their regular clothes (baggy, beige khaki pants, a big yellow shirt, a purple striped sweater), the orchestra resembled a nerdy Caltech party. Howard also mentioned that the maestro was not amused by cell phones, which drew some applause. This was just as a phone went off behind me and the woman answered the call. Then Salonen strutted onto the stage with his princely gait but no tails.

The second--and perhaps more telling--change to the concert? No intermission. Don’t need one when the program is only slightly longer than a B movie. January’s concert was a very palatable 70 minutes featuring Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1 and Scriabin’s “Prometheus” with a Pink-Floyd-at-the-Observatory-style laser-light show by Laserium.

The laser-light show, however, didn’t lure the rock concert crowd. At a pre-concert event hosted by author Sandra Tsing Loh, I detected the usual Philharmonic crowd: women in fake furs followed by wafting clouds of perfume and their husbands in blazers or sweaters trying to stay awake. Halfway through the performance, I spotted some younger couples drifting in--still mostly white and Asian--and what looked like a school group of 20 teenagers. Minorities and young people are still a small portion of the Philharmonic audience.

During the Shostakovich, I did notice a long-haired Yngwie Malmsteen-looking fellow sitting near me and thought that this is exactly the sort of audience the Philharmonic wants to bring in. I imagined that this dude was probably a guitarist who took music seriously and that there were probably plenty like him who, for whatever reason (maybe they couldn’t find anyone to go with them), had never had the pleasure of experiencing the L.A. Philharmonic.

Salonen introduced the Scriabin piece with a couple of incomprehensible jokes and his customary pretentious charm. (It’s OK to be pretentious when you’re as talented as Salonen. Otherwise, it’s not OK.) The accompanying light show had a sort of “Fantasia”-type effect and added to the hypnotic aspects of Scriabin’s music. The 10-year-old next to me was sound asleep through the whole thing; fortunately for them, he’s not in the age group the Philharmonic wishes to attract.

After the concert, some audience members went to Otto’s Grill, a restaurant on the lower level of the Music Center, to have drinks with a few musicians from the orchestra. Here, the crowd was a bit younger, but most of the audience headed home at 9:30 p.m.

Challenge of Attracting Younger Audience

Of course, it’s going to be difficult for the Philharmonic to attract younger folk. Short-attention-span concerts and Dockers attire may not do the trick.

Other possible gimmicks might include orchestral arrangements of Metallica standards, a free soda or ladies’ night.

Perhaps fancy-looking rave-style fliers (which always seem to draw a crowd) might bring in some confused Day-Glo people.

None of that, however, cures the bottom-line wallet problem. Decent seats at a Philharmonic concert are too pricey for most twentysomethings working their first 9-to-5 job. Students can line up an hour or two before the show for a limited number of cheaper “rush” seats. (Now they’re $10, which isn’t bad. Several years ago they were a great bargain at $5.)

Still, it’ll be a battle. With music programs cut back in high schools, too many students have little or no knowledge of classical music. And there’s the widespread perception that I encountered among the friends I lured to performances that classical concerts are boring. But Salonen has plenty of rock star appeal. And though there’s no mosh pit--at least not yet--the orchestra proved on Casual Friday that they can mix it up a little.

Casual Fridays with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Friday at 8 p.m. at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. $12 to $78. (323) 850-2000.