Music review: Philip Glass' Hollywood Bowl debut

 

It has been 26 years since Godfrey Reggio’s film “Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance” had its premiere.  Images shot in the late '70s and early '80s of waste, war, consumerism, destruction, technological frenzy and folly, along with poverty, are slowed down and sped up. Philip Glass’ famous score leads the eye and the emotions. Beauty is found where it is neither expected nor necessarily wanted. 

Balance, we understand after 87 mesmerizing moments, is personal. The world when we stop to look and listen is beautiful and our finding ecological equilibrium is a matter of changing our minds.  Alas, “Koyaanisqatsi” remains fresh for wrong reasons as well as artistic ones: little has changed in a quarter century. 

But Thursday night, “Koyaanisqatsi” changed. For a screening at the Hollywood Bowl, the Los Angeles Philharmonic commissioned Glass to alter the balance of his score and make a new version for his ensemble and for orchestra and chorus. Michael Riesman, the music director of the Philip Glass Ensemble, conducted. The composer was one of the keyboardists.

Glass has performed the soundtrack to the film live more than 200 times, he told The Times.  The score has seeped into wide-spread musical consciousness.  Even P.D.Q. Bach has parodied the opening deep bass Koyaaaaaan –is-qat-siiii chant.  But at all those live screenings, a spunky small ensemble of electric keyboards, winds and soprano fills in for the chamber-orchestra-sized group on the film soundtrack.

The new version mainly fleshes out the original brass, wind, string and vocal parts for a now moderately sized L.A. Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The large forces were not liberally used and were reserved mainly for effect. The Bowl's amplification nicely served the ensemble, which is always amplified and always loud, but orchestra and chorus were somewhat out of balance over the sound system. 

Still, the Bowl is an outsized venue. The screen over the shell is large. The audience included a contingent of ill-mannered rock fans (I was asked by one to sit down during the national anthem because I was blocking her view). Bigness was needed to get any point across.

Mainly, though, it was good to finally have Glass at the Bowl. This has been a curiously long journey.  The L.A. Philharmonic does not have a Glass-friendly history. Shortly after “Koyaanisqatsi” came out, the orchestra gave a concert performance of Glass’ score for the “Rome” Segment of “the CIVIL warS,” Robert Wilson’s ill-fated epic international operatic project commissioned for 1984 Olympic Arts Festival in Los Angeles but dropped when funding could not be found. The players were said to hate playing the repetitive music. 

Esa-Pekka Salonen was never a fan, but John Adams finally broke the ice with a program of the orchestra’s “Minimalist Jukebox” Festival in 2006. Last summer at the Hollywood Bowl, the orchestra performed Glass again when Leonard Slatkin conducted different excerpts from “the CIVIL warS” and the Violin Concerto with concertmaster Martin Chalifour as soloist.

And now it appears Glass has won over at least some of the musicians. Several L.A. Philharmonic players not needed on stage Thursday showed up anyway to sit in the audience. 

Glass, however, told the audience he never felt he had completely made it until he actually played the Bowl, and finally he was on the fabled stage. Since the film couldn’t begin until darkness, he began with a piano solo, “Opening,” and the ensemble offered two other popular early pieces – “Façades” and “Spaceship” from “Einstein on the Beach.” 

But first came a surprise: Riesman made an arrangement of the national anthem for the ensemble.  The group’s soprano,Lisa Bielawa, an interesting composer in her own right, sang it without vibrato in piercing tones. The phrasing was rhythmic and choppy. The harmonies were new and startling.

During the World War II, Stravinsky was almost arrested for tampering with national property when he made a Spartan version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”  Riesman is lucky we live in different times.  Not everyone I spoke with at intermission was happy about the arrangement.  But like “Koyaanisqatsi,” it offered a new – and, in its own way, exhilarating – perspective.

Riesman’s conducting of “Koyaanisqatsi” was also exhilarating. Although he kept the music mostly synchronized to the film, he did not conduct as if a prisoner to the screen. In fact, he could create such a sense of momentum that there were times when it felt as though the music were moving the images and that the film was a living organism. And in this town, at least, that is not life out of balance.  

-- Mark Swed

Related:

Philip Glass to perform film, opera works at Hollywood Bowl

Photo, top: Image from Godfrey Reggio's "Koyaanisqatsi" show with Philip Glass score performed live at the Hollywood Bowl Thursday night. Photo, bottom: Glass addresses the Bowl audience. Credit: Irfan Kahn / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Donald Frazell]

Glass IS monotonous and bombastic, the entire score of the film was, and of course led to nothing but overkill and no follow up. It was about the makers of the film, the composer, and not the Earth or humanity. It made the audience feel better about themselves, because, of course, the were not "those" people. And were voyeurs of the peoples of the earth they had no connection to.Typical self propoganda and new age nonsense. And complacent in blaming others instead of taking on personal responsibility.

If you want to hear truly rhythmic and spiritual modal music listen to Miles Davis In A Silent Way, or hundreds of other jazz albums of true creative force, ones that led beyond self worship and idle arrogance, into living a creative life and DOING, not sitting around and talking.

And if you want a National Anthem that truly led to an uproar and reappraising of what it is to be American, look to Marvin Gaye's version at the NBA allstar game, an incredibly beautiful and inspiring moment. And rhythmic, pulsing with life, not blandly loud and irritating pseudo intellectual self promotion. Glass is a panderer to the rich, to make them feel more important, while excusing any real change or personal responsbility.

Blame is easy, and easy to avoid. Taking up on truly changing, towork, to sacrfice, things lacking completely in such academic nonsense, keeps such fools in business, and desensitizes to true life, which is never repetitive, but always changing, flowing, mutating, growing, organically in rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic passion. Not as a bombastic engine of limited Man's small mind.

Another example
art collegia delenda est

[geoff tuck]

I missed the Bowl concert but I am lucky to have seen Glass performed at Minimalist Jukebox. What an amazing experience that was! The response from the crowd was great, as Mark Swed noted in his review of teh concert. I HOPE I HAVE THE CHANCE TO HEAR MORE GLASS FROM LA PHIL. thanks Mark.

[John Douglas]

What a gift it was to see Koyaanisqatsi preformed live July 23 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. It was truly incredible preformance and one that I will cherish forever. Phillip Glass is n incredible composer and while there are many of those out there who would be quick to criticize the works of a master, 9 times out of 10 those that are doing the criticizing have no work of there own to show for. Jealousy and hatred are unfortunatly what leads to the state of the world we live in, a state of Koyaanisqatsi- Life out of Balance.
Godfrey Reggio, Ron Fricke and Phillip Glass joined together and created a masterpiece 27 years ago that has touched the world in some small way. It has inspired countless of individuals and I am one of those who has been deeply moved by not only the film itself but by the magic of the music and those who preformed the score at the Hollywood Bowl, I am great-full for the opportunity to have been able to see the show and hope one day to see it again preformed live.
Bravo!

[Webmaster -- Fullerton Friends of Music]

Truly a unique and welcome event for L.A. Phil. Glad to see that Philip Glass is getting some well deserved programming attention with the Phil the past two seasons.

Agree with Mr. Swed regarding the juvenile conduct of a few of the attendees; a lot of premature primal outbursts by a minority of the audience during the performance of "Koyaanisqatsi", which drowned out some of the quieter passages of the work and preceded the end of the musical performance.

Hard to believe the film was created 27 years ago, when attention to some of the issues the film presented received far less media attention than today.

What the program did achieve is reaching out to a broader age base of audience, which I think is critical to the long-term success of Classical Music programming.

Particularly enjoyed the solo piano performance of Opening from Glassworks.
Minimalism has it's greatest effect and communication (to me) when the musical forces are reduced. Look forward to hearing more Glass compositions for smaller ensembles.

As stated by the reviewer; a truly unique arrangement of the National Anthem by Mr. Reisman. Also enjoyed the candor of Mr. Glass during the pre-concert introduction.

A great change-up in Hollywood Bowl programming, although not suited for conservative Classical Music tastes, but definitely reaching out to a mulit-generational audience base.

Great week of events at HB for contemporary Classical Music fans.

[lsm]

Hearing and seeing art remains amazingly subjective and idiosyncratic. Last night's performance of "Koyaanisqatsi" moved me, in part, by bringing home that I am one of "those" people and by making me much more aware of the Earth than of anyone involved in making the film or the music. I am sorry others suffered through the evening, but they risk hubris by ascribing motives or feelings to those of us who enjoyed a magical night at the Bowl.

[Grammie Margery]

Unlike the noisy interruptions experienced by Mark Swed, I found the complete silence both moving and respectful. Perhaps he should choose to sit in the bench section. The concert and film were amazing and the setting perfect. Added bonus - seeing the space station move thru the sky above the Bowl. What a perfect exclamation point for this particular concert.

[Lisa Buckland]

I find it ironic that Mr. Frazell perceives Koyaanisquatsi somehow "disconnects" viewers from the decay humanity has caused the earth. From the first time I saw the movie in Germany some 13 years ago to the 7 or 8 times I've seen it since then, the movie leaves me with a vast sense of culpability.

How can one overemphasize the destructive nature of human beings on the earth or on our own kind? Koyaanisquatsi asks the audience to pull their heads out of the sand and consider not only the results (direct or indirect) of our way of life. More importantly we're asked to consider our relationship with technology and its effect on us.

The image of the microchip circuit board segment is highly prophetic considering the effect the computer and the internet have had on society. It emphasizes even more the scenes of individuals walking within masses of crowds on the streets of New York City. In the midst of millions and being utterly alone. Today, we hole up at our computers and network socially in the virtual world, play virtual games, lead virtual lives. I can only imagine what the movie would have looked like if filmed in modern day. It is we who are driving disconnectedness.

The Thursday performance by Glass's ensemble, the Phil and Master Chorale was wonderfully done. I barely noticed where the film had been changed. Musically, it seemed only that some of the wind segments were slowed down a bit. The Master Chorale as always were fantastic.

I very much enjoyed Glass' opening piece. It was a sublime compliment to the cachaphony to follow. All in all, I feel lucky to have seen Mr. Glass live as he is one of the best modern composers. On the other hand, I was relatively displeased with the arrangement for the National Anthem. I'm not typically a traditionalist, but it turned me off and to me was highly disrespectful.

[Donald Frazell]

We are more stuck in the sand than ever, it took an ecoomic catastrophe to finally pull our heads out, but may very well put it right back in. The movie is all about Us vs They, the evil industries and commerce tha t"we" most delicate artistes revile, and then go about our business traveling, buying silly stuff, demandng the rich pay attention to us(daddy!) No change at all, only worse.

There has been true art revelaing how all is connected since mankind first began to create. Art is Defining Mankind, Exploring Nature, and Searching for God. ALL art that has lasted fulfills these three things. This silly loud, black and white version of life is about the artistes magnificence who made the movie, and their lemming like followers who have not changed their lifes at all. It points fingers at nameless :"Others" The very patrons of the arts who have created our false academicism of today.

Yet this is never pointed out. Eli Broad has built more wasteful homes for inflated prices than any land baron in history, unneeded, unnecessary, and resource dinosaurs. Yet no one ever says a thing amongst artistes, including Glass and his own circuit of backslappers and irresponsible finger pointers. Its always someone else. These folks travel the world wasting fuel and polluting the Earth. He and his ilk make money sucking up to blue haired old ladies and others with teh dime to back his lifestyle, one completley opposite of this movie, which is a string of cliches.

Damn, just looks like the fifty years of National Geographic back issues i got in the garage. Those of us who care already knew, those who changed already did. ths was nothing new, jsuta glossed over temple of arrogance, and noses pointng ever higher in the air, with nothing to show for it, but the wasted lifestyles of those with too much time and money on their hands. Those for who you can never be too rich or too thin. I got news for you, eat a damn cheeseburger. Anorexia and bulemia are not cool, we are omniovres, but like with all in life, moderation in all things. There was nothing moderate in view or presentation about this guady affair. Or Truth.

art collegia delenda est
Another prime example

[Steve Schindler]

Mr. Frazell, What the heck are you blabbing about? If you don't like Mr. Glass's music, fine. There's plenty of music I can't stand also, but I don't waste time incoherently blabbing away in the comments section of music reviews of artists I can't stand. Glass caters to the rich? Hogwash. Greatest composer in the world= GLASS.

[Donald Frazell]

I am actually quite coherant, just not monotonously droning on and on and on. Typos can be a problem however. Glass meets with rich folks at every venue, guess how much he brings in from that? Hobnobbing, brownnosing, pan handling, whatever you wanna call it. Can you picture Miles Davis or Cezanne ever having stepped so low? NO. He turned his back on fools, paying or not.

As stated, Glass is a joke within the preModern European music community. , Modern world music is jazz, or was. Its day is pretty much over too. Neither really strikes a nerve of who we are anymore. Certainly not Glass, just to a certain subsect of over educated, as in Pavlovian responses to his "music", hero worshipping crowd. But then, overly "intellectual" music can make any musician one dimentsional, even Eric Dolphy got silly from time to time, beating a dead horse trying to make something out of nothing, or just one thing illustrated ad nauseum.

Art is about layered inter-relationships, built into a living, organic form that reflects mankind, nature, and our concept of god, the only concept worth a damn. The rest are all self worshipping arrogance. And little is as ego driven as this bombast. It is not about the subject at all, but the makers "Self" expression, and their "brilliance", and by extension, their worshipers. Quite a cult thing actually, certainly not creative art, meaningTruth. Just more academic drivel for those of limited minds, experience, and passion.

Those who do look elsewhere. Those who cant well, teach, and graduate from academic art and music schools. To those of us who actually make choices, raise families, work, pay taxes, try to do the best we can with limited options, creating our own as much as possible, this is pretty tame, lame, and boring, stuff. Catering to the very people who have caused these issues. And of course pointing everywhere but where they need to, themselves

Have a nice day.
art collegia delenda est

[Steve Schindler]

Mr. Frazell, you don't know anything about Philip Glass. Glass meets with anyone. I'm not rich, and he knows me by name. He is an incredibly nice man even though he has to suffer clueless fools like you. Did Glass run over your dog? Face it, Koyaanisqatsi is the greatest marriage of music and film in history!

[Donald Frazell]

LOL! If that makes you feel better, enjoy. I prefer Terence Blanchards film scores myself. Malcom X used alot of Coltrane of course, but he has done a great job with all Spike Lees movies and plenty of others. Even converted my ex wifes Aunt who was visting from Sweden, a well known pianist/harpsicordist/educator who traveled widely. She always put down jazz and Oscar Peterson,as her sister was president of his fan club. saying it was just scales. I took her to the Jazz Bakery, sadly closed just recently, had a benefit the other night with Hubert Laws and others. She sat there for about fifteen minutes, holding her ears, rocking, then sat up, and said "I get it!." It was like taking an artist who only new renaissance works, and then dropped a Cezanne or Paul Klee in front of them.

An eureka moment. She taught jazz appreciation from then on once she went back to Goteborg. She ahd ived there after marryingan art dealer since the 1950s, not much opportunity for a classically trained black woman back then, many went to Europe as they appreciae music much more. And recognize that avant garde jazz is the modern equivalent of Europen classical musics.

But as you obviously have seen all of the hundreds of thousands of movies ever made, and know your music so very, very well, All Hail the Great Philip Glass!!! Master of bombast and repetitious musical conceptualism! The equal of the great Gerome and Meissonier! NeoNeo-cassicism gone berzerk! Bet you love Talking Heads and Velvet Undereground too. LOL!

art collegia delenda est

[James Haggel]

Mr. Frazell, if you don't like Glass music then go listen to something you like. Otherwise frankly nobody cares for your opinion. Its just that your opinion, ill informed as it may be. anyway sounds like you have alot of time on your hands to write all that nonsense. Get a life and calm down man.