Eun Sun Kim leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic and soloists in the world premiere of Nico Muhly’s Concerto Grosso at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Photo by Elizabeth Asher.

In Tuesday’s (1/28) San Francisco Classical Voice, Richard S. Ginell writes, “Two debuts stood out at Walt Disney Concert Hall over the weekend. One was the world premiere of an attractive new concerto grosso by the much-in-demand composer Nico Muhly. The other was the Los Angeles Philharmonic debut of a most impressive 27-year-old French pianist, Alexandre Kantorow…. Muhly’s 20-minute Concerto Grosso plays the sorts of musical games you would expect considering past examples of the form. The composer had an unusual quartet of orchestral instruments as soloists: flute, trombone, cello, and mallet percussion, manned respectively by LA Phil principals Denis Bouriakov, David Rejano Cantero, Robert deMaine, and Matthew Howard…. After opening on a single note, the piece took off in a mild contrapuntal frenzy with a bright and cheerful air underpinned by repeating ostinatos in the orchestra…. In the final section, each solo instrument received a cadenza … While this engaging piece was commissioned by the Phil and presumably written with its principal players in mind, it ought to travel well among other orchestras. Eun Sun Kim, the gracefully gesturing music director of San Francisco Opera,” conducted. “Rachmaninoff’s ‘Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini’ was the vehicle for Kantorow, who turned in a tremendously imaginative performance.”