Gustavo Dudamel wasn’t talking about the Prokofiev 5th Symphony when he made that comment from the stage at Walt Disney Concert Hall, but he could have been. In fact, he should have been. On a Friday night when the performance of a newly commisioned work for electric cello should have provided a bit of a kick in the pants, it was nothing more than a random collection of entertaining moments. The real shaking came thanks to Prokofiev, care of a solid reading by Mr. Dudamel brilliantly played by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Got a few inquiries wondering where I’ve been hiding (or in one case, what “they” did to me) . . . first of all, thank you for your interest and concern.
The short answer is that the day job has had me out of town and crazy busy, so haven’t had as much time as I’d have liked to devote to non-day-job endeavors, All is Yar being chief among them (with USC football taking a major hit too — thank goodness for Tivo and most especially for ND fumbling on the 1-yd line).
That said, I was able to make it to last Friday’s LA Phil concert, and have been piecing together my thoughts while on planes and trains and in hotel rooms. Now that I have a little time to breathe, I hope to have a post up later today on my $.02 regarding that night.
This week, I happen to be in New York and the Tri-State Area (no, silly, not the “Tri-State Area” near Danville – but I know some of you were thinking it). I hope to be able to partake in some local culture and sub-culture — let’s pray that the schedule permits.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming . . .
Arts critics have been under siege for the past few years. Many have been losing their jobs outright, while others have been asked to spend substantial time on other topics. So it came as a pleasant surprise to learn that in Atlanta, someone is actually giving critics money to write about the arts. Here’s the notice:
Possible Futures, an Atlanta-based foundation, has announced new awards in support of local arts criticism, including a $20,000 challenge grant to this publication.
The grants are the second that Possible Futures founder Louis Corrigan has made to both ArtsCriticATL and Burnaway.org.
“Vibrant cities require great art,” said Corrigan in a statement, “and meaningful arts criticism is vital in that it challenges artists to do their best work and helps a broad audience understand and appreciate that work.”
(To read more details from ArtsCriticATL.com, click HERE)
This is not the first time I’ve heard of arts criticism moving towards the model of a not-for-profit being supported by enlightened philanthropy. Not sure if there is enough cultural-minded largess to make this the primary model, but any attempt to keep educated and well-trained professionals doing this job, we should pray that there is more of it.
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There are certainly other creative ways to get your non-profit arts-related organization some money. Frank Almond, blogger and concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony, offers up a list of fines that should be imposed upon wayward individuals within an organization, whether management and musician.
Just a small example of possible offenses and the accompanying fine:
Management
Visible ponytail (male): $500
Any reference to a “20 hour workweek”: $3,000
Using the words “Detroit”, “Philadelphia” and “new model” in the same sentence: $2,000
Musicians, presumptuous first year behavior
Musicological Elucidation: $25
Historical Nitpicking: $50
Questioning Concertmaster’s or Principal’s Bowings (strings): $25
Comparing Concertmaster’s or Principal’s bowings with what Philadelphia did under Ormandy: $100
Musician, Annoying Behavior By Veterans
Discussing Technique During Rehearsal: $100
Discussing Technique During Break: $200
Discussing Technique With Guest Artist (at any time): $500
Just got this email from the Los Angeles Philharmonic:
Yefim Bronfman, who was scheduled to play with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall October 13th, 14th and 15th, has fractured a finger and been forced to withdraw from these performances.
Bummer for me and all other fans of Fima who were looking forward to seeing/hearing him play this weekend. HUGE bummer for the great pianist himself. Let’s pray that it isn’t serious and that he recovers quickly.
I was remiss in leaving this weekend’s Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concerts off my previous post of less-publicized upcoming concerts. Jeffrey Kahane and crew will be doing the Beethoven 3rd Symphony (“Eroica”) along with the Dvořák Nocturne in B major.
Adding to the fun will be Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin performing two works by Britten: Les Illuminations and Now sleeps the crimson petal (audio samples of her singing each of them HERE and HERE). I’ll admit that I’m not very familiar with her work, but based on the two samples, I’m rather bummed out that I won’t be able to see her perform (plus seeing LACO is always a treat regardless of the program). I will definitely have to make a point of trying to catch Ms. Gauvin the next time she’s in town.
If you aren’t already occupied, consider making it out to the Alex Theatre on Saturday night or Royce Hall on Sunday evening to catch one of these concerts.
Despite the potentially grave implications of this, there is shockingly little buzz about it (try googling “New York Philharmonic Strike” and see what you get). The tone of the article was certainly cautious without being alarming. And though the previous contract had expired in September, the musicians continue to perform – apparently, a common practice. Compared to an article about a 1991 NY Phil strike vote, few details have so far come out as to what the points of contention exactly are. In the wake of all the bad press surrounding other big orchestras in Detroit and Philadelphia having their own labor issues, I guess that this is a good thing.
Interesting to note that the Managing Director of the New York Philharmonic 20 years ago was Deborah Borda, current President of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It is amazing and gratifying to think that the LA Phil hasn’t had significant labor strife in decades, and Ms. Borda’s move to the West Coast hasn’t changed that. Bassist Peter Rofé, chair of the negotiating committee, once told me that he could sit down with former LA Phil guru, Ernest Fleischmann, and have an honest and straightforward conversation. Ms. Borda seems to have maintained the productive relationship with the players, and certainly, the latest labor agreement between the musicians and administration valid through 2013 is indicative of continued give and take: the LA Phil players are still the highest paid among their peers with a base salary of nearly $150,000/year at the end of the term; at the same time, they were willing to make concessions such as paying more for their health insurance deductibles and co-pays, something most working Americans can easily relate to.
A standing ovation and loud bravos (bravi?) to everyone involved in keeping working conditions smooth with the local band so they can concentrate on making great music, much to the benefit of all of us. And best of luck to the folks in New York — hope there is no interruption to the music making there.
A Comedy Tonight
Igudesman and Joo
Classical Music and comedy — not necessarily oxymoronic, especially where the likes of Victor Borge and PDQ Bach have been concerned. Into the comedic classical breach step Igudesman & Joo. The Los Angeles Times interviewed the pair, and Hyung-Ki Joo made a point of saying, ”We’re not making fun of music. We’re having fun with the music. We’re classical musicians, we are very passionate and serious about classical music.”
As to their influences, some are to be expected (Messers. Borge and Bach, Dudley Moore, Danny Kaye), others a little less so: Matt Stone and Trey Parker and . . . Glenn Gould??
Their concert at The Broad Stage this weekend is already sold out, and based on the video below, I’m not that surprised. If you still want to catch them before they leave LA County, they play another show at the Carpenter Center on Sunday.
The joy of living in Southern California is that the area offers so much to see/hear/experience; however, there is only limited space on my calendar and limited resources in my wallet, so I can’t do everything I would want. So with upcoming chunks of my time already being occupied by LA Phil performances, a Foo Fighters show, and USC football (not to mention the ubiquitous day job), here are just a handful of concerts – in no particular order — coming up in the next couple of weeks which I’d like to attend, but probably can’t. Hit them up yourself if you can:
A free concert by the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players
In addition to its regular orchestral concert series at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, the LBSO offers a series called “Sounds & Spaces” devoted to performing chamber works in the community at architecturally notable locations. Amazingly, the cost of these concerts is Free-fifty-free (AKA $0). On Sunday, October 23rd, the LBSO Chamber Players will play the Mozart Flute Quartet in D major, the Villa- Lobos Quintette Instrumental for Flute Violin, Viola, Cello and Harp and Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro for Flute, Clarinet, String Quartet and Harp. Principal Flute Heather Clark and Harpist JoAnn Turovsky feature prominently.
The performance will take place in The Grand Salon of The Cooper Arms, a Long Beach building added to the National Historic Register in 2000. Noted Long Beach architectural historian and preservationist, Stan Poe, gives a brief talk about the venue, and a reception with the artists follows the concert.
To reserve your FREE ticket, call (562) 436-3203.
You’ve gotta love a Tuba concert
Norm Pearson, Jim Self, and Doug Tornquist are not only tubists in some of So Cal’s best ensembles, they also happen to be featured on most of the movie and TV soundtracks requiring that most sizable of brass instruments. That makes them heard more often than pretty much any other tubists around. Now you can hear them in person, along with some of their other tuba-playing colleagues on Wednesday, October 12th, at 7pm at USC’s Alfred Newman Recital Hall. The concert features premieres by David Jones, Anne McGinty and Steven J. Williams, along with other music by Bill Cunliffe, Anthony Plog and some guy named Beethoven.
The concert is FREE, though donations/contributions to the Patricia and Tommy Johnson Memorial Music Scholarship are welcome. Call (213) 740-2584 for more information.
Morten Lauridsen receiving the National Medal of the Arts (2007)
Arguably the most beloved living choral composer in this hemisphere, Dr. Lauridsen will have his works show up in in two different programs by groups with whom he has had a long association. Unfortunately for those of us fans, both concerts are happening at the exact same time: 7pm on Sunday, October 16th.
USC Thornton Chamber Singers and Concert Choir, Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, 505 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 ($5 USC students and seniors; $15 general admission): As a Distinguished Professor and former head of the composition department, Dr. Lauridsen is rightly held in high esteem at USC. The Thornton School’s two vocal ensembles will perform his works, along with those of Manuel de Sumaya, Don Carlo Gesualdo, Benjamin Britten, Johannes Brahms, and Samuel Barber. More info HERE.
Los Angeles Master Chorale, Walt Disney Concert Hall ($24 – $119). Dr. Lauridsen’s relationship with the Master Chorale dates back to 1985 when Roger Wagner first conducted the Mid-Winter Songs on Poems by Robert Graves. From 1994-2001, Dr. Lauridsen was Composer-in-Residence, during which he created and the Master Chorale realized some of his most famous works, including O Magnum Mysterium, Lux Aeterna, and Ave Maria. Grant Gershon conducts the LAMC’s opening concert of the season in a typically diverse and intriguing program including works by Eric Whitacre, Tarik O’Regan, Shawn Kirchner, and a U.S. Premiere by Thomas Jennefelt, before ending the concert with the Lux Aeterna. Messers. Gershon and Kirschner join Dr. Lauridsen and Alan Chapman for the pre-concert discussion.
Franz Liszt’s 200th birthday and the Camerata Pacifica
The great Hungarian composer and pianist was born on October 22, 1811, and surprisingly, few local arts organizations will be celebrating the bicentennial of his birth. Thank goodness one of them is Camerata Pacifica, presenting pianist Adam Neiman as he performs Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes at four different Southern California locales:
Friday, October 14, 1pm* & 7:30pm: Hahn Hall, Santa Barbara (*lunchtime concert where only a selection of the Etudes will be performed)
Single tickets are $22 for the lunchtime concert in Santa Barbara, $40 for the afternoon concert in Ventura, and $45 for the three evening concerts. Click HERE to get your tickets in advance.
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Photo credit:
Michael Stewart for the National Endowment for the Arts
After Friday night’s Los Angeles Philharmonic concert, I had separate communications with two distinguished gentlemen about where that particular performance of Symphonie fantastique ranked among all of the others they had experienced. Interestingly enough, I realized I couldn’t name a single favorite – no individual performance of the Berlioz standard stood out in my mind, and trust me, I’ve heard many.
I can say the same thing for many other so-called warhorses – the Beethoven 5th Symphony, for example. I’ve seen/heard countless performances of that work, and while I’ve enjoyed all of them to varying degrees, there isn’t one particular performance that made me think, “Wow. That was amazing. Best of I’ve ever heard. Gonna be hard to ever top that one.”
For whatever reason, I have more strong memories of performances of less-often heard works or premieres: being at the world premiere of LA Variations and watching an LA audience that many considered conservative go absolutely bonkers; watching the late great Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson at Walt Disney Concert Hall singing Neruda Songs as tears streamed down her face; the first time I heard Esa-Pekka Salonen conduct Le Sacre du Printemps in WDCH . . . (and on and on) . . .
Is it because we hear certain pieces so often that it becomes hard for an orchestra and/or conductor to make them distinctive? Perhaps.
Of course, I’m not completely without warhorse favorites. The best Beethoven’s 9th I ever saw was a performance by the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl in the late 90’s conducted by Simon Rattle. I just remembered it being filled with excitement, nuance and little bits of surprise – which, considering the fact that it happened at the less-than-ideal acoustic of the Bowl, made it a bit more remarkable.
So, dear reader, what is your favorite performance of a warhorse, any warhorse? A concert you experienced, or maybe even a concert you performed in . . . maybe you have more than one. I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments below.
Just to kick things off, here are a small smattering of mine:
For those of us unable to make the LA Phil’s all Gershwin gala last Tuesday, I thought I’d share this video clip of that night’s guest Principal Trumpet, Thomas Hooten, playing one of the famous solos from An American in Paris.
Oh, wait . . . you wanted something different, perhaps saxophones and the rest of the orchestra instead of canine vocals???!! Well unfortunately, I don’t have video of that (yet). But you still have one day to listen to the online audio stream of his solo — in fact, the entire gala concert — thanks to KUSC and American Public Media: click on this link HERE
Thomas Hooten playing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Mr. Hooten’s dogless version of the solo is at 38:42
As for the rest of the concert, here are the start times to each of the individual pieces for your listening convenience and pleasure:
Cuban Overture – 17:22
An American in Paris – 30:58
Rhapsody in Blue – 74:40 (Herbie Hancock, piano; Michele Zukovsky, clarinet; Jim Wilt, trumpet)
There’s lots of other content, including Herbie Hancock’s two improvisations on “Embraceable You” and “Someone to Watch Over Me,” Gustavo Dudamel’s comments from the stage between the first two pieces, and pre-concert interviews with LA Phil VIP’s Deborah Borda (President) and Martin Chalifour (Principal Concertmaster).
Enjoy it while you can — after this, you’ll have to wait until PBS broadcasts the concert on “Great Performances” and they haven’t yet announced when that will be . . .
There is a point in the last movement of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique when funeral bells loudly toll and announce the beginning of a dance of witches. The ominous three note sequence repeats — forte, then piano — and continues on as the tubas begin playing the Dies Irae from the old Roman Catholic mass for the dead. Most orchestras play that sequence on tubular chimes; not the Los Angeles Philharmonic — they use giant bells that the orchestra acquired a few years ago when Esa-Pekka Salonen was still Music Director, ones that would look quite at home hanging a block away in the campanile of The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. When they are struck, you don’t just hear them, you feel them resonate through your skull.
Friday night, when percussionist Perry Dreiman banged his mallet to play the C-C-G on those giant bells and the shock waves hit me, I immediately thought:
Damn, it’s really good to be back in Walt Disney Concert Hall.
A few minutes later, as the final cord chord of the grotesquely triumphant movement subsided, the audience roared in approval. It capped a solid evening by the Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, one that entertained without trying to be profound. For me, the evening was about enjoying the playing of the music more than the music being played.
Anyone familiar with the live recording Mr. Dudamel made with the orchestra before he was Music Director would easily recognize the interpretation from Friday: lush, brash, in your face, unabashedly thrilling. When Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos conducted the same work at WDCH less than a year ago, he kept the giant bells off-stage, the most obvious example of an interpretation that was more restrained overall. Mr. Frühbeck’s take was more “symphonie,” Mr. Dudamel’s is more “fantastique.”
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“Let’s rrrrock this place.”
The short answer is that the day job has had me out of town and crazy busy, so haven’t had as much time as I’d have liked to devote to non-day-job endeavors, All is Yar being chief among them (with USC football taking a major hit too — thank goodness for Tivo and most especially for 
Possible Futures, an Atlanta-based foundation, has announced new awards in support of local arts criticism, including a $20,000 challenge grant to this publication.
There are certainly other creative ways to get your non-profit arts-related organization some money. Frank Almond, blogger and concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony, offers up a list of fines that should be imposed upon wayward individuals within an organization, whether management and musician.
The great Hungarian composer and pianist was born on October 22, 1811, and surprisingly, few local arts organizations will be celebrating the bicentennial of his birth. Thank goodness one of them is 
There is a point in the last movement of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique when funeral bells loudly toll and announce the beginning of a dance of witches. The ominous three note sequence repeats — forte, then piano — and continues on as the tubas begin playing the 
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