Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
Jaime Martín, conductor
Kelly Hall-Tompkins, violin
Alex Theatre
Glendale, CA
November 2, 2024

Haydn: Symphony No. 7 in C major, Hob. I:7, Le midi
Beal: Body in Motion
Beethoven: Overture to Egmont, Op. 84
Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21

Held at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra presented an alluring program bookended by early forays into the symphony from Haydn and Beethoven. As a centerpiece was a recent violin concerto by Jeff Beal, receiving its West Coast premiere.

Haydn’s Seventh Symphony is the middle of early trilogy, in which each entry represents a different time of day (the other two are also being performed by LACO this season). Le midi (Noon) was written for the composer’s inaugural concert for the Esterházy family, the beginnings of an enormously fruitful musical relationship. The introduction was marked by crisp dotted rhythms, and I was struck from the first bars by music director Jaime Martín’s graceful conducting — without a baton, he seemed to be acting out the music he intended to draw from the orchestra rather than merely beating time.

The work proceeded with delightful interplay amongst the musicians on stage, and evidenced Haydn’s blossoming compositional skill — though one scarcely could have imagined that nearly 100 more symphonies would follow. Solo passages from concertmaster and principal cello were further highlights. A recitative served as an introduction to the Adagio — an inventive device which the composer would rarely revisit. Genteel material was decorated by fluttering flutes, and a duet between violin and cello gave a certain chamber-like quality. An elegant minuet followed — with a striking double bass solo in the trio — rounded off a by a finale brisk and full of vitality.

Jeff Beal is a California native particularly known for his work in film and television, including scores for House of Cards and Monk. His violin concerto titled Body in Motion received its first hearing at the St. Louis Symphony this past January, and LACO also engaged dedicatee Kelly Hall-Tompkins as soloist. Each of the three movements depicts a certain physiological phenomenon, beginning with head above water. Rippling material in the orchestra opened, with the violin soloist entering on the crest of the wave. A long and lyrical melody contrasted the orchestra’s bubbling gestures. Matters were ramped up in vigor with rapid-fire playing from the soloist, and a colorful touch of percussion. A wide-ranging cadenza followed, and finally, the sea swells of the opening resurfaced.

Plaintive strings, barely present, opened the central breathing movement. Hall-Tompkins joined in to draw out a melodic line in this meditative, inward-facing moment. Coarsely pulsating material began the closing running, and Beal made clever, efficient use of the slimmer resources of a chamber-sized orchestra. The violin writing was quite demanding, traversing the range of her instrument to bring the work to a rousing close. An appealing listen even if not particularly profound.

The remainder of the program was devoted to Beethoven, beginning with the Egmont overture. Bold and bellicose, there was wound-up tension from the opening, further emphasized by LACO through stark dynamic contrasts. The payoff came in the heroic ending, full of brassy splendor. The First Symphony opened with strikingly dissonant chords, quickly resolved — a device which Martín charismatically demonstrated in his spoken remarks. Fleet and buoyant, there was particularly fine playing from the winds, capped off by a joyous finale in all its foot-tapping vigor.