The Wall Street Journal describes South Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho as poised to take his place among the greats of the past “not only for his bulletproof technique, but also for his artistic voice [and] his sense of drama.” Cho joins the LA Phil for Ravel’s Concerto in G, one of the pianist’s favorite works, which he describes as a continuous dialog between piano and orchestra.
Grammy Award-winning conductor Paavo Järvi leads the LA Phil first in Bacewicz’ Concerto for String Orchestra, which combines approachable classical melodies with more modern harmonic ideas. Järvi closes the program with Brahms’ Piano Quartet arranged for orchestra. Schoenberg adored Brahms’ original but felt it was rarely performed well as chamber music, leading him to transform the piece into an orchestral version—given its world premiere by the LA Phil—that brings out Brahms’ shifting variations and colors.