Rafael Leads Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite

Rafael Payare, conductor
Joshua Brown, violin

GABRIELA ORTIZ: Kauyumari
SHOSTAKOVICH: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 99
BARTÓK: Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird Suite (1919 version)

Mexico, Russia, and Hungary converge in a dazzling celebration of rhythm, color, and movement.

Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari (2021), written for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, opens the program with explosive dance rhythms and luminous orchestral color. The title – “Blue Deer” in the Huichol language – refers to a visionary figure in that Indigenous culture, a symbol of hope and healing. Ortiz adapts a traditional Huichol melody into a joyful, propulsive orchestral showpiece.

Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, composed under Stalin’s terror yet premiered only after his death, moves from shadowy introspection to incandescent virtuosity. Written for the legendary David Oistrakh, it fuses anguish, irony, and klezmer tinged exuberance in one of the century’s great concertos.

Bartók’s Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin bristles with raw power and sensuality. A modern day fable of violence and compassion, it stunned early audiences with its intensity and remains one of Bartók’s most daring scores.

Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite crowns the evening with radiant, fairy tale splendor. Written for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, it brims with shimmering orchestral colors and the triumph of light over darkness – music that heralded a new age of sound.