![]() Finally, after an intermission, the three members of Sigur Rós joined the LA Phil on stage. The final section of overlapping descending lines was particularly gorgeous. performance debut, it’s a slow tense drone largely for strings with a short chaotic middle section. Next, they tackled the three-part “Emergence,” by Daníel Bjarnson, a young Icelandic composer/conductor who’s crossed over to pop to work with the likes of Ólöf Arnalds and Efterklang, as well as Sigur Rós. Their opener this night (they will perform different pieces each night with Sigur Rós) was “BD” by Hlynur Aðils Vilmarsson, a searching avant garde number that runs from atonal discord to melodic whimsy, building to a tribal gallop of short notes, which at times felt like something that might soundtrack an episode of Lost. Things picked up with the orchestra and the familiar sight of Salonen back in Los Angeles in black. It was met with a mostly appreciative, if slightly fidgeting response from. Starting with a sort of a cappella amuse-bouche from the Schola Cantorum Reykjavík choir in a set of five short pieces quickly demonstrating a range of traditional Icelandic music. ![]() The night is billed as “Sigur Rós & LA Phil,” not “Sigur Rós with the LA Phil,” a hint at a long evening coming in around three and a half hours with intermissions, Sigur Rós not appearing until about 75 minutes into the program. First, backed by the orchestra–conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, co-curator the festival, in a return home as the LA Phil’s conductor laureate–and then as their current stripped-down three-piece configuration. The Icelandic band, often branded as “post-rock” (if anything demonstrates the deficiencies of that catch-all term, it was this particular night) overwhelmed with two dynamic hour-long sets. The highlight of the LA Phil’s ongoing Reykjavík Festival, Sigur Rós stunned in a transcendent performance in the first of a three-night run at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
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