One Morning Turns Into an Eternity with Esa-Pekka Salonen
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Peter Sellars, Ausrine Stundyte, Fleur Barron
Walt Disney Concert HallSouth Hope Street, Los Angeles 90012
The Los Angeles Philharmonic performs One Morning Turns Into an Eternity, an operatic exploration of the life cycle in Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Rituals festival. Salonen conducts and Peter Sellars directs a continuous program of Schoenberg’s Erwartung, Webern’s Five Pieces for Orchestra, and Mahler’s “Der Abschied” from Das Lied von der Erde. Soprano Ausrine Stundyte takes on Schoenberg’s drama of a woman searching the woods for her lover, while mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron joins the Mahler conclusion. The evening moves from grief toward transcendence, with no intermission.
This is a Los Angeles Philharmonic project led by its Creative Director, Esa-Pekka Salonen, in collaboration with theater director Peter Sellars. Sellars describes the intended passage as “beyond emotion, beyond sorrow, into breath, into eternity.” The music places sharply contrasted early-20th-century works in one arc: Schoenberg’s hallucinatory operatic scene, Webern’s five-part miniature, and Mahler’s extended farewell meditation on seasons, separation, loss, and rebirth. Schoenberg praised Webern’s piece for the ability to “express a novel in a single gesture,” while Leonard Bernstein wrote of Mahler’s work that “death becomes a synonym for eternity.”
Designed by Frank Gehry, this concert hall is a striking architectural landmark with sweeping stainless steel curves that catch the light outside, while inside, its acoustics are meticulously crafted to deliver rich, clear sound to every seat. The auditorium seats over two thousand people in a space where the audience is fully immersed in the music, surrounded by warm wood paneling and a stage that brings performers close to listeners. The venue hosts ticketed performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and other ensembles, offering an evening focused on attentive listening rather than casual socializing. Nearby bars and restaurants in Downtown Los Angeles provide options for pre- or post-show dining, but inside, the experience centers on the music in a refined, elegant setting.