Performed and recorded in 4k with Music Director Jaime Martín on November 16, 2019 at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA.
Grammy-nominated composer Missy Mazzoli was recently deemed as “one of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working in New York” (The New York Times) and “Brooklyn’s post-millennial Mozart” (Time Out New York), writing music for some of the most prominent performers and ensembles working today. Mazzoli’s Dark with Excessive Bright for double bass and string orchestra was originally composed for contrabass soloist Maxime Bibeau and commissioned by the Australian Chamber Orchestra. When describing the piece, Mazzoli explains:
“While loosely based in Baroque idioms, this piece slips between string techniques from several centuries, all while twisting a pattern of repeated chords beyond recognition. ‘Dark with excessive bright’, a phrase from Milton’s Paradise Lost, is a surreal and evocative description of God, written by a blind man. I love the impossibility of this phrase, and felt it was a strangely accurate way to describe the dark but heartrending sound of the double bass itself.”
The soloist for this West Coast premiere of Dark with Excessive Bright is LACO’s very own principal bass David Grossman, an educator, composer and bicoastal multi-faceted musician who is also a member of the New York Philharmonic.
More Videos to Check Out
Take a glimpse in this behind-the-scenes video as David Grossman and Missy Mazzoli discuss Dark with Excessive Bright:
Watch the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s short film about Maxime Bibeau and Missy Mazzoli preparing for the 2018 world premiere of Dark with Excessive Bright:
More about LACO AT HOME
The coronavirus pandemic may prevent us from gathering together to share music in person, but current circumstances will not prevent LACO from providing you with exquisite, enduring, personal musical experiences. We are happy to announce that the musicians of LACO have generously volunteered to share a wide variety of audio and video options during this time. All broadcasts can be live-streamed at laco.org/broadcasts and streamed on-demand at laco.org/on-demand.