Review: LA Phil Concert Celebrates 30 Years with Concertmaster Martin Chalifour

November 21, 2024, 8:50 PM · The Los Angeles Philharmonic is in a state of transition, and theme of change and the passage of time were on full display on Tuesday night in a chamber concert celebrating concertmaster Martin Chalifour's 30 years with the orchestra, which will conclude with his retirement at the end of this season.

LA Phil Concertmaster Martin Chalifour in the 1990s, and now.

Among the many changes in store for the LA Phil: the departure of Associate Concertmaster Nathan Cole, who is now concertmaster of the Boston Symphony, and in 2026, the departure of Music Director Gustavo Dudamel for the New York Philharmonic.

Tuesday evening's concert began with Chalifour at the microphone, sharing his thoughts and memories and expressing gratitude for the friends and colleagues who would be performing with him on the stage.

The music began with guitarist Mak Grgic joining Chalifour for Piazzolla's "Histoire du Tango," a piece with four movements representing four different periods of time in the history of Tango. Chalifour described Grgic as an artist of great expressive quality, and his assessment certainly proved true.

Originally scored for flute and guitar, the piece is a bit more intimate and gentle with the violin-guitar pairing. The first sound that came from the guitar was light rhythmic drumming on the wood - Grgic embracing his guitar and tapping it almost affectionately. Throughout the piece, Grgic played as if he were completely connected with his instrument, with an exquisite timing and rhythmic sense that seemed to animate instrument and player as one being.

He and Chalifour were dialed in to each other in the changing moods of these piece: the traditional-feeling tango themes of the 1900's "Bordel," the slightly more dizzy 1930 "Cafe," the dreamy evening-time feel of the 1960 "Night-club." And as Chalifour said of the last movement, entitled "Concert d'aujourd'hui" or "Modern-Day Concert": "this reminds me more of Stravinsky than of the dance music of Argentina." Indeed, it swayed and grooved in a most dissonant way.

Next was a piece by Amanda Harberg (b. 1973) called "Lucas's Garden," a three-movement work inspired by her son Lucas's interest in botany. Chalifour has known the composer for some time, and though Lucas is now grown, "I associate him as a little boy that was always running around with a jar full of plants and bugs" at summer festivals. "Lucas's Garden," a work in three movements, featured LA Phil musicians clarinetist Taylor Eiffert, cellist Dahae Kim and pianist Joanne Pearce Martin. The first movement "Backyard Paradise" was pleasant and consonant music, with a sense of longing. The second movement "Moonlit" was a little more existential and French-sounding, while the tempo picked up in the thornier last movement, "Wild Roses."

Capping off the first half was the world premiere of Celka Ojakangas' (b. 1992) "Duo" for violin and viola, a five-minute gem of a piece that was commissioned by the LA Phil for this occasion. Performing with violist Jenni Seo, Chalifour seemed most at ease with this music, the two musicians playing a constant stream of notes from which all kinds of things emerged, from references to Hindemith to what sounded to me like bluegrass and jazz licks. Composer Ojakangas said that she wrote it "with Martin Chalifour's fun-loving spirit in mind and with full knowledge that I would get to work with the amazing violist Jenni Seo." She also added that she was inspired by the 70s funk band "Tower of Power." It had flash and it had humor, as well as some well-placed dissonance to add spice. It brought smiles, toe-tapping and a big ovation for the composer, who emerged from the audience to take her bow onstage.

The concert concluded with Beethoven's Septet in E-flat major, a piece, Chalifour said, that is a sort of microcosm of a full orchestra - boiled down to just seven representative musicians.

It's also the very same piece that Chalifour performed 30 years ago at a chamber concert that was part of his audition process for the position of LA Phil concertmaster, back when Esa-Pekka Salonen was the orchestra's music director.

The LA Phil looked up the old program for me - that concert took place on Oct. 31, 1994, and at the time Chalifour - the young concertmaster candidate - performed with LA Phil musicians who were established in the orchestra: clarinetist Michele Zukovksy, bassoonist David Breidenthal, hornist Brian Drake, violist Evan Wilson, cellist Daniel Rothmuller and bassist Christopher Hanulik.

Just one of those musicians is still on the LA Phil roster 30 years later - bassist Hanulik. On Tuesday, Chalifour - now the LA Phil veteran - performed with an entirely different group of musicians: clarinetist Taylor Eiffert, bassoonist Evan Kuhlmann, hornist Amy Jo Rhine, violist Ben Ullery, cellist Dahae Kim and bassist Kaelan Decman.

Back in 1994, Chalifour had no idea he was about to spend the next three decades with this evolving orchestra in Los Angeles. Instead, he said that his mind on getting back to Cleveland - already had a pretty great position, as Associate Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra.

Right after that concert he knew he'd have to high-tail it to the airport to catch a flight back to Ohio, where he'd be sitting concertmaster for Mahler's Seventh Symphony under the great conductor Pierre Boulez. Pressed for time, "We played the Beethoven extremely fast!" he said.

On Tuesday the Beethoven septet unfolded without any sense that the violinist was trying to be anywhere else but at home in Walt Disney Concert Hall, a place that Chalifour himself helped bring to life when he played the first musical notes in the hall back in 2003. The septet highlighted the talents of the leaders within this great orchestra - musicians like Chalifour who bring not only their ability each to play well, but a whole world of history, connection and artistry, along with the impulse to help make music thrive in our community.

Best wishes, as both the LA Phil and Chalifour look to what comes next!

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Review: LA Phil Concert Celebrates 30 Years with Concertmaster Martin Chalifour

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