A Day in L.A.

On this rainy morning I kept dry in Disney Hall listening to the rehearsal of the L.A. Phil. conducted by Ludovic Morlot.  This French Conductor led the orchestra in a works by a French composer, Heni Dutilleux born in 1916.  He wrote "The Shadows of Time" in 1997.  The program states:  "Dutilleux's music often presents a sensuousness of texture - a colorful garden of sounds so delicately cultivated that he often brings to mind a latter-day Ravel."  The Shadows of Time is a somber meditation on loss relating to the 50 year remembrance of those lost in World War II.  He was especially moved by Anne Frank's diary and the deportation by the Nazis to concentration cams of an entire orphanage of Jewish children.

Next the orchestra played the Victorious Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.  It is always inspiring and chilling to hear this great works....certainly Beethoven at his best.  The final works was Mozart's Piano Concerto N. 25 with Emanuel Ax.  Ax played easily and confidently and after a run through he worked with the conductor and orchestra to get the sound he wanted.  Then they played much of it all again.  Outstanding!

The afternoon brought the sun and a walk to Grand Park to sit and enjoy the fountain and views. 

Then it was a stroll down Hill Street to the Grand Central Market for a Kabob lunch and a check on the renovation in progress.  Finally, I walked across the street and road the Angels' Flight funicular railway up Bunker Hill to Grand Avenue and back to Disney to get my car.  We do live in an amazing city.