No additional details, and the orchestra has not yet issued an official media release.  As soon as they do, I’ll pass them along.

UPDATE (12:58PM PST):  This from the LA Phil’s Facebook page . . .

It is with great sadness that we pass on the news that our Principal Clarinet, Lorin Levee passed away yesterday. He fought a long and courageous battle with a fatal blood disorder; a battle so valiant that he played his final concert with us only on January 8. Lorin joined the orchestra in 1976 as our bass clarinetist and in 1981 won the position as Principal. He was a great clarinetist, a dedicated member of our New Music group, and had appeared with the orchestra as a soloist on numerous occasions. This is a real loss for us all.

UPDATE (4:04PM PST):  details from the Los Angeles Times of music to be played tonight in his honor:

A concert on Thursday at Walt Disney Concert Hall will be dedicated to Levee. The orchestra has added an extra piece to the program — Ravel’s “Le Jardin Féerique” (The Enchanted Garden) — in honor of the musician. In addition, Deborah Borda, president of the L.A. Philharmonic, is scheduled to speak.

Mr. Levee joined the orchestra in 1976 as bass clarinetist.  He was promoted to principal in 1981 by Carlo Maria Giulini.

He has been prominently featured on many of the orchestras recordings, including the Rachmaninoff 2nd Symphony conducted by Simon Rattle and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.  More recently, he could be seen on video in Gustavo Dudamel’s 2009 inaugural concert as Music Director, most especially during that concert’s performance of the Mahler 1st Symphony.

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Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Having gotten burned on an older bottle, I went in the other direction and pulled a bottle from the most recent purchase I had made:  2009 Melville Estate Pinot Noir – Sta. Rita Hills (winemaker’s notes HERE).   We had picked up two bottles of it, plus two more of ’09 Melville “Carrie’s” Pinot; since I really want to give the “Carrie’s” some time to develop, I decided to open one of the regular “Estate” bottles.

In short — it’s yummy, but it’s still young.  Quite tight in the nose and on the palate.  Definitely fruity, and definitely Sta. Rita Hills, but very short finish.  I’m gonna wait until next year before I try the second bottle since I’m sure it’ll develop more back-end with a little more time lying down.

That’s okay, it’ll be worth the wait.  Besides, I have some ’07 Rochioli that is begging to be opened, and I can’t risk waiting too long and having to pour THAT down the kitchen sink.

• The evening begins with a back stage, behind-the-scenes tour
• Photography will no longer be permitted

The hashtag for tonight’s festivities is “#LAOHerring” for all who are interested in joining in the fun.  If you haven’t started following me on Twitter already, just push the “Follow @MrCKDH” button on the right side of this page.

Related posts:

• LA Opera’s Simon Boccanegra: the view from — and of — the Tweet Seats
• Warming up the thumbs: LA Opera Tweet Seat, here I come
• Official holder of an LA Opera “tweet seat”

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Photo credit:  courtesy of the Music Center

Thankfully, the music-making itself was uniformly excellent.  If the three pieces being performed weren’t familiar, they were accessible; more importantly, they provided the CSO an opportunity to flex their muscles, and the orchestra responded by playing with the power and panache for which they are famous.  You’d probably expect this from the brass, but it was present throughout the ensemble, most especially in the unanimity of the strings from top to bottom.  This was orchestra as monolith, and even if that meant individual sections or players lacked their own personality,  one still couldn’t help but be impressed with the sound.

The first half of the evening consisted of two programmatic works about man and machine.  The first, Pacific 231 by Arthur Honegger, was the revelation of the night.  I had never heard anything by this composer before, but if this is an indication of what his entire ouevre is like, I’m going to have to search out more if it.  Representing a locomotive starting up, running, and then slowing down, Pacific 231 had everything you’d expect in such a piece:  momentum, rhythmic weight, and harmonic complexity.  The second work was Alternative Energy, a new work by composer and DJ, Mason Bates.  One of the two  CSO Composers-in-Residence, Mr. Bates created a work inspired by the concept of energy creation through the ages, starting with Ford’s Farm in 1896, to Chicago in 2012, an onwards to China, then Iceland, in 100 year increments.  Musical effects ranged from a country fiddle tune and car engine hand-crank, to recorded sounds from Fermilab in Illinois and other electronica generated from Mr. Bates’s computer.  The orchestral writing was full of interesting moments, and while Mr. Bates could sometimes resort to musical caricature to make his points, the overall effect was positive.  It made me think of Magnetar, Enrico Chapela’s much less compelling attempt at a similar melding of electronic and traditional sounds with the LA Phil a few months ago.   Unlike that work, Alternative Energy was raucously satisfying — tonal and accessible, without ever needing to pander.  Concertmaster Robert Chen played the fiddle tune with spirit, while Principal Percussionist Cynthia Yeh (formerly with the San Diego Symphony) gamely ran back and forth banging on a plethora of instruments in between turns of the hand crank.

César Franck’s only symphony used to be much more prevalent on orchestra programs, but it has become an increasing rarity over the past couple of decades. Among its current fans are critic and blogger, Tim Mangan, Philharmonic Society President, Dean Corey, and writer and radio personality, Jim Svejda, who memorably described it this way:

It has something for everyone:  despair, adventure, exuberance, romance, and an English horn solo in the second movement for which anyone who ever played the instrument, myself included, would cheerfully sell his grandmother to the gypsies. (Jim Svejda, The Insider’s Guide to Classical Recordings, Sixth Edition)

I, on the other hand, am not so big a fan.  I don’t dislike it, mind you; I even happen to have three different recordings of the work.  It’s just that I find the Symphony in d minor to be the musical equivalent of lobster thermador:  very popular in the Mad Men era; rich, buttery, and pleasant enough when you happen upon it; but hopelessly out of date, a little too cheesy, and not something you need to experience in person more than once a generation or so.

After intermission, Mr. Muti and the CSO gave Franck’s work a robust and sumptuous reading.  He took his time throughout, luxuriating over many moments.  Scott Hostetler played a fluidly phrased English horn solo.  I can’t imagine the work being played any better.  If there were any performance of the symphony that would have made me a believer, it should have been this one.  Yet in the end, I remained  unconvinced.

Random other thoughts:

• Before the concert began, Mr. Corey came out to say a few words of welcome to both audience and orchestra.  As he was finishing, his daughter walked on stage, announced to everyone that it was Mr. Corey’s 65th birthday.  She began to lead the audience in an a cappella rendition of “Happy Birthday” when after a few bars, the CSO joined in, quickly finding the right key and managing some harmony to boot.
• Let’s hope the Chicago Symphony doesn’t wait as long before returning to the West Coast.  Someone offered me a bet on whether that would happen before or after I heard the Franck Symphony performed again; even if I were a betting man — and I am — I wouldn’t take that bet.
• A few words about Principal Horn Dale Clevenger:  the veteran musician has a legendary reputation, but as I’ve stated before, Principal Horn can be a lightning rod for criticism in any orchestra, and Mr. Clevenger has been taking a lot of hits in the Chicago media for his playing as of late.  As recently as a few weeks ago when this same Honneger/Bates/Franck program was premiered in Chicago, John von Rhein, music critic for the Chicago Tribune, made a point of singling out Mr. Clevenger for “several splattered entrances.”   During the first half of Friday’s concert, I had forgotten all of that; however, during the Franck, there wasn’t a single exposed horn line that didn’t cause me to squirm due to a rough entrance, or more disturbing, some very questionable intonation.    The all-around excellence and precision of the rest of the orchestra just made those moments that much more notable.  Hate to point it out, but there you go.
• There seemed to be an inordinate amount of women in fur coats near where I was sitting, certainly more than I’d ever seen at Walt Disney Concert Hall or any other orchestral concert in any city — and many of those concerts were in places away from Southern California when the ambient temperature was less than 50 degrees.  And for those who may be concerned, I didn’t ask whether the fur was genuine or imitation.
• Other reviews from the night:
  • Tim Mangan, Orange County Register
  • Richard Ginell, Los Angeles Times
  • Brian, OutWestArts.com

Related posts:

• Muti on conducting new music and conducting in general; reviews from CSO’s concerts in SF
• Chicago Symphony coming to California; download free MP3 of Franck symphony to celebrate

Philharmonic Society of Orange County:  February 17, 2012; Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti, conductor

HONEGGER: Pacific 231, Mouvement symphonique No. 1
BATES: Alternative Energy
FRANCK: Symphony in d minor

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Photo credit:  Todd Rosenberg, courtesy of the Chicago Symphony

An example of Beauchamp-Feuillet dance notation

If I were to look at a random cross-section of my favorite bits of music across genres, much of it — mazurkas by Chopin, Le Sacre du Printemps, New Order 12″ remixes, even the cheeky  Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO — is inherently dance music.  Baroque music in particular is riddled with dance-based themes.  A quick look at the titles of some of the most popular works from this era, say Handel’s Water Music, and you find minuets, riguadons, and bourrées; we hear this music all the time, but what do the associated dances actually look like?

Answering that question was the underlying premise of the second concert of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s “Baroque Conversations” series.   Patricia Mabee, the orchestra’s Principal Keyboardist, hosted the event which featured music presented in a low-key, less formal manner followed by an opportunity for audience Q&A with the performers.

Patricia Mabee

The evening began with an energetic rendition of Vivaldi’s Trio Sonata in D Minor, “La folia,” played by an ensemble led by Tereza Stanislav’s  beautiful and crisp violin playing.  John Schneiderman followed with two compact solo works for baroque guitar by Gaspar Sanz, and he imbued them with an expressive joy that drew smiles from the audience.  Roland Kato, LACO’s Principal Viola, then introduced the audience to his viola d’amore, a relative of the modern viola, but with seven playing strings and another seven additional  ”sympathetic” strings below them which vibrate when the top seven are bowed.  He and his colleagues played Wilhelm Ganspeck’s Overture in A major for Viola d’Amore & Violin, a somewhat misleading title given that the work includes seven dance-inspired movements, including a Passepied, Gavotte, Bourrée, and Gigue, among others.  Mr. Kato later admitted to the crowd that because the instrument had three more strings than his usual viola, he had some trouble with his bow inadvertantly playing the wrong string; despite this, the appeal of the charming  work came through thanks to Mr. Kato & Ms. Stanislav’s persuasive interpretation, supported by Ms. Mabee on harpsichord and Armen Ksajikian on cello.  Ms. Mabee also had took an impressive solo turn in Antonio Soler’s Fandango in d minor, S. 146, her hands flying up and down both manuals of the instrument with clarity and precision.

The relationship between baroque music and baroque dance would have merely been an exercise in imagination if actual dancers weren’t present.  Fortunately for everyone, there were.  Linda Tomko, historian and founder of the baroque dance troupe, Les Menus Plaisirs, and Jill Chadroff, another member of the same troupe, were on hand to provide a beautifully compelling example of how the various dances looked based, as she later explained, on Beauchamp-Feuillet dance notation (an example of which was provided to the audience).  Dressed in period costumes and occasionally using props of flowers and baskets, the two ladies gracefully recreated dance steps and movements from the operas by Campra, Lully, and Rameau, with accompaniment from Ms. Mabee and her LACO colleagues.  It provided a complete experience — simultaneously educational and entertaining, without ever feeling like you were being lectured to — of consistently high quality.  The near-capacity crowd at Zipper Hall responded enthusiastically, and the majority stayed afterwards for the discussion with the artists.

LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA “BAROQUE CONVERSATIONS:”  Thursday, February 16, 2012; Zipper Concert Hall, The Colburn School
Patricia Mabee, host and harpsichord
John Schneiderman, baroque guitar
Linda Tomko, dancer
Jill Chadroff, dancer
Tereza Stanislav, violin
Sarah Thornblade, violin
Armen Ksajikian, cello
Roland Kato, viola and viola d’amore
Victoria Miskolczy, viola

VIVALDI:  Trio Sonata in D minor, Op. 1, No. 12, RV 63, “La folia” (“Madness”)
(Ms. Stanislav, Ms. Thornblade, Mr. Schneiderman, Mr. Ksajikian, Ms. Mabee)

SANZ:  Pavanas & Canarios from Instrucción de Musica Sobre la Guitarra Española
(Mr. Schneiderman)

GANSPECK:   Overture in A major for Viola d’Amore & Violin
(Mr. Kato, Ms. Stanislav, Mr. Ksajikian, Ms. Mabee)

CAMPRA:  Rondeau & Loure from L’Europe galante (“Galant Europe”)
CAMPRA: Bourrée from Les fêtes vénitiennes (“The Venetian Festivals”)
(Ms. Tomko, Ms. Chadroff, Ms. Stanislav, Ms. Thornblade, Mr. Kato, Ms. Miskolczy, Mr. Kato, Ms. Miskolczy, Mr. Ksajikian, Ms. Mabee)

SOLER:  Fandango in D minor, S. 146
(Ms. Mabee)

LULLY:  Gavotte & Sarabande from Atys
RAMEAU:  Music from Dardanus (Ms. Tomko, Ms. Chadroff, Ms. Stanislav, Ms. Thornblade, Mr. Kato, Ms. Miskolczy, Mr. Kato, Ms. Miskolczy, Mr. Ksajikian, Ms. Mabee)

Mason Bates: Composer - DJ

Tonight, the Chicago Symphony arrives in Southern California after too long an absence.  The antici . . . pation is finally coming to an end.  You’ve downloaded your free MP3 of Franck’s Symphony in d minor, listened to it intently, and now you’re ready for the real thing.  A few last minute bits of fun:

Tim Mangan shares a brief video clip where Riccardo Muti, the orchestra’s Music Director, is amusingly self-deprecating on his — or any conductor’s — role in making music.  (Click HERE)

Earlier this week, the San Jose Mercury News published an interview Richard Scheinin did with the Maestro in which he describes the same opinion in a slightly different way:

Q Many people don’t really “get” what a conductor does. Can you describe the essence of conducting?

A I come from a school where we don’t learn the art of conducting without learning deeply the music. I started the violin first, and I had a degree in piano, and then I studied composition for ten years. And then when by accident I discovered that I had some qualities to be a conductor. I went to Milan, where I studied with Antonino Votto, who had been an assistant to Toscanini in the ’20s.

He always taught us in the same way Toscanini taught his assistants. And the basic idea is that the arms are an extension of your mind. If you have a musical idea, you must explain it to the orchestra, and then the arms should reflect this idea. It should not be a reason to make a show in front of the public. And my teacher had a great sense of humor. When some of the pupils had a problem starting a symphony, he said, “Don’t worry, just make the sign of a strong downbeat.” He said, “You do this, something will happen in the orchestra.”

The arms are not an instrument. We should use the arms to keep the orchestra together and to underline the expression. But as my friend Carlos Kleiber used to say, “Caro Riccardo, dear Riccardo, it would be so wonderful to conduct without conducting.”

Q Does this ever happen for you, that you feel you’re barely even conducting, physically speaking?

A Yes, in fact my way of conducting today is less demonstrative than when I was young.

Anna Clyne

Even more interesting are comments relating to his conducting of new music — or perceived lack thereof.   By my count, Mr. Muti was pretty much at the bottom of the list of Music Directors conducting contemporary music with their respective orchestras in 2011/2012 (my accounting is HERE).  A quick look at the 2012/2013 season yields more of the same.  Yet in the same interview with Mr. Scheinen, Mr. Muti dismisses any notion that he shies away from such things, and evens makes a surprising claim at the end:

Q Your upcoming concerts in San Francisco include two new works by young composers, who are in residence with your orchestra in Chicago: Mason Bates and Anna Clyne. Some people might not recognize that you are such an advocate for contemporary music.

A The people who don’t recognize it are people who are not informed. Because when I was in La Scala and Philadelphia I performed so much contemporary music, and I commissioned so much contemporary music. So I don’t understand this response. If you look at the programs from Philadelphia and La Scala — many, many works of contemporary composers.

But my job is not only to promote the contemporary music, but also to work in the repertoire. With every orchestra, you have to do Bruckner, Schubert, Mahler; the big repertory remains for the conductor and for the public.

And then there are the conductors that are considered specialists in contemporary music. But I can assure you that, if you can conduct Mozart, you can conduct contemporary music — but not necessarily that, if you can conduct contemporary music, you can conduct Mozart. I can assure you that. [Emphasis Mine]

Really?  I’ve heard Kent Nagano and David Robertson both do some compelling Mozart, not to mention Pierre Boulez and Esa-Pekka Salonen conduct some wonderful Haydn.  And I’m having a hard time imagining John Eliot Gardiner or Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting Ligeti or Lutoslawski, but you never know . . .

Anyways, some reviews from the CSO’s concerts in San Francisco are in:

• Joshua Kosman (San Francisco Chronicle) was blown away by the orchestra, and really liked what they played — except for Anna Clyne’s “monotonous” work
• Mr. Scheinen (San Jose Mercury News) contrasts Mr. Muti’s conducting style in the works by Franck and Bates
• Lisa Hirsch (Iron Tongue of Midnight) was impressed by the orchestra, but was nonplussed by the programming

Related Posts:

• More 2012/2013 season announcements from Chicago, St. Louis, Seattle, and Nashville
• Chicago Symphony coming to California; download free MP3 of Franck symphony to celebrate
• Gustavo Dudamel and new music (Part One of an ongoing series)

Anton Bruckner and Igor Stravinsky

Grant Gershon and the Los Angeles Master Chorale have spent the better part of a month helping the Los Angeles Philharmonic with their Mahler Project.  With their Disney Hall roommates moving on to Venezuela for the rest of the “Project,” conductor and chorus have collectively moved on in their own way without having to leave home on Sunday — to the music of Bruckner (Mass No. 2 in e minor and Os justi meditabitur sapientiam) and Stravinsky (Symphony of Psalms).  At first blush, it seemed to be an odd pairing as the two composers share few stylistic similarities; however, Mr. Gershon found common ground by creating a program devoted entirely to sacred music.  Moreover, the contrasting works allowed the Master Chorale to show off different sides of its personality, resulting in a diverse evening of radiant singing.

Though Bruckner is perhaps best known for his symphonies, his Second Mass is decidedly un-symphonic, being closer to true liturgical sensibility than his other big sacred works:  there is a fair amount of a cappella singing, the accompaniment is provided by a small ensemble with no strings, and there are no vocal soloists.  Elements of Gregorian chant are ever-present, and Palestrina is quoted in the Sanctus.

Still, the piece is full of the multi-layered walls of sound Bruckner is known for, and it played directly to the Master Chorale’s strengths.  The LAMC is excellent throughout its ranks, but it is the richness of its male voices that gives the Master Chorale its distinctive sound, and  Mr. Gershon leveraged this quality in the eight-part harmony to create a richly textured, organ-like sonority that was unmistakably Brucknerian.  At the same time, the LAMC has a strong reputation in performing Gregorian chant, and this become readily apparent in the purity of tone and blend of the Mass’s many unison moments; the opening line of the Gloria was particularly beautiful.  In total, it was magnificent:  they’d sing with a power that would rival the loudest orchestral climaxes, then soon after imbue the quiter moments with an intimacy and tenderness which left you holding your breath.

The second half of the program was devoted to Psalms,  beginning with  Os justi, an a cappella setting of lines from Psalm 37.   The motet is Bruckner in miniature:  four-part harmony full of passages high and low, from quiet to grand.  Mr. Gershon allowed it to unfold naturally, without pushing tempos or dynamics to the extreme.  When it ended, he launched directly into Symphony of Psalms with barely a pause.

The Master Chorale has a storied history with the music of Stravinsky.  Not only has it sung his music regularly, former music directors Roger Wagner and Paul Salamunovich both prepared choirs for the composer; there is even a story that Esa-Pekka Salonen examined Mr. Salamunovich’s copy of the score which had instructions and notes given to him by Stravinsky himself.  The LAMC last sang Symphony of Psalms  at Mr. Salonen’s final 2009 concerts as Music Director of the LA Phil, in a presentation where Peter Sellers imposed a great deal of choreography, awkward singing positions, and hand movements onto the singers; that their singing was nearly flawless that night  was proof positive of their incredible talent.

Sunday’s performance was thankfully absent of theatrics.  When combined with Mr. Gershon’s fluid, smoothed-over interpretation — not to mention the choir’s familiarity and confidence with the piece — it gave the performance a relaxed feel.  In fact, it sounded almost too easy; the Master Chorale was uniformly outstanding throughout, singing with impressive blend and precision, but  a little more edginess would’ve been welcome.

But these are relatively minor quibbles, and did not detract from a wonderful evening of music.  It was good to hear  the Master Chorale perform these composers’ works together,  highlighting their unexpected connections.  Kudos to Maestro Gershon for pulling off this iconoclastic program in convincing fashion.

Los Angeles Master Chorale:  Sunday, February 12, 2012; Walt Disney Concert Hall
Grant Gershon, conductor

Bruckner:  Mass No. 2 in e minor
Bruckner:  Os justi meditabitur sapientiam
Stravinsky:  Symphony of Psalms

Los Angeles Opera’s production of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra opens today, with Placido Domingo in the title role of pirate turned Doge of Genoa.   As previously mentioned, I was offered one of LA Opera’s inaugural “tweet seats” for last Wednesday’s final dress rehearsal.  Normally, I wouldn’t be writing about a rehearsal at all, let alone doing so while the action was occurring; however, the whole point of the exercise was to do just that.

So here’s how it went, one both sides of the proscenium:

On the stage:  the usual opera stuff (death, intrigue, love, secrets, and more death) done quite well

I know that this wasn’t truly a performance, it was a rehearsal, so take everything I say with the proverbial grain of salt.  Indeed, we were warned in writing and via public address system:

“Remember that this is a dress rehearsal. There may be cast substitutions, singers holding back and saving their voices for opening night, the production may stop while the director/technicians fix or change something, lighting may be different, etc…”

As it turned out, there was no stop in the action; the “performance” was seamless from beginning to end, and if this were part of the regular run of shows instead of a rehearsal, I don’t think anyone in the nearly capacity crowd would have complained much, if at all.  It was an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable night at the opera, with only marginal things keeping me from praising it even more.

Finale of Act 3: The Death of the Doge

The role of the Doge is notable for being Mr. Domingo’s first official one as a baritone.  As such, he may not be some people’s ideal Simon Boccanegra, but he was certainly a convincing one.  His voice does not carry the same deep resonance as that of other baritones,  but it now has a darker quality than one would have experienced from him ten years ago, without losing any of the richness for which Mr. Domingo is famous.  This became most evident in the climax of the Council Chamber scene (“Ecco la spada . . . In te risiede”), as the Doge compels Paolo into cursing the unknown traitor — which turns out to be Paolo himself.   Mr. Domingo had no trouble imparting onto the notes a menacing quality that  matched the intensity of the moment.  In addition, Mr. Domingo continues to bring nuance to his acting that was difficult for any of the others in the cast to match.  Whether in more subtle actions during duets or trios, or in the startling suddenness of his character’s death, he brings much more to a scene than his stellar voice.  Overall, it was a pleasure to watch and hear.

The rest of the cast more than held their own.  Standing out was Vitalij Kowaljow as an excellent Jacopo Fiesco, singing with a seemingly effortless grandeur; he definitely captured the audience’s attention as evidenced in the tweets during the show, the discussions during intermission,  and the enthusiastic applause he received at curtain call.  Ana Maria Martinez handled her opening aria (“Come in quest’ora bruna”) with fearless aplomb, showing off both her technical precision  and incredibly sensitive touch; as the night wore on, her voice loosened up to give her tone even more bloom.   Paolo Gavanelli (Paolo) and Robert Pomakov (Pietro) each sang capably.  If anyone seemed to be holding back, it was Stefano Secco as Gabriele Adorno:  his moderate tenor often got overwhelmed in the First Act, came to life during his big moments in Act 2 before sounding like he was tiring by the time he appeared again in Act 3.   James Conlon conducted the orchestra, coaxing some beautiful playing throughout.  Though some are quick to criticize the acoustics of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (especially compared to its magnificent neighbor, Walt Disney Concert Hall), I’ve never thought it was particularly bad, and on Wednesday night, singers and instrumentalists could all be heard with good transparency and balance, one never overwhelming the other.

The production, on loan from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, was most notable for a classically-themed set that provided a handsome frame for the entire opera’s action .  Duane Schuler’s high-contrast lighting design starkly underlined each scene to help maximize the drama, though it could sometimes overwhelm more static moments (too dark in the prologue, too bright in the opening of Act 1).  Elijah Moshinsky’s direction was best and most interesting when there were more people on stage to manage:  most of the time, he kept things moving; however, during the first scene of Act 1, he was content to let his singers merely stand and sing; combined with the stark lighting and sparse staging, this left his cast seemingly exposed, which they were thankfully able to overcome.

In the seats:  knowing when to pick your moments

The role of official tweet seater is loosely defined.  Your primary responsibility:  share the on-stage goings on with the world as much or as little as you want, in whatever way you deem most appropriate.  Twitter?  Absolutely.  Blogging?  Sure.  Facebook? Go for it.  Anything typed out was fair game, pictures were allowed as long as the flash was turned off, and video was strictly forbidden.  There were ten of us who showed up, coming from a variety of backgrounds:  at one end of the spectrum was Katherine Talley, a professional singer; on the other was Katie B of YelpLA, social media professional attending her very first opera.

Vitalij Kowaljow: Scheming rival or Sith Lord (with apologies to Beverly Reynolds for poaching her reference)

We were generously given three entire rows in the back of the Loge section, giving us a great view of the stage while ensuring that no one would be sitting behind us and be distracted by the light coming from our mobile devices.  In addition, LA Opera’s Communications Manager, Shannita Williams, presciently noted that using social media is an inherently solitary endeavor and she wasn’t sure if people would want to spread out or if we’d actually want to tweet sitting next to each other.  In the end, there was a mixed bag of some tweeters clustered together while others stayed physically isolated.  I wanted to sit on the aisle, and ended up in the last row directly behind Beverly Reynolds (publisher of the blog, Style [Not Fashion] and self-professed “Feminist, gamer, woman about town, general ne’er-do-well) and next to a group of about five other women.

As I tweeted at the time, the lights hadn’t yet dimmed and we were already getting some funny looks from ushers and other patrons; Beverly’s DSLR camera drew some particularly skeptical looks.  Ms. Williams was able to quickly quell any disagreements from the house staff, and during the actual performance there were more distractions (coughing, talking, bottle being dropped, cell phone alarm going off) coming from the rest of the audience as from us tweet seaters.

When the performance began and everyone settled in, it was quite fascinating to see when people chose to make comments and on what they chose to comment about.  Some gave a sort of play-by-play, others quoted the English supertitles, while still others gave reactions; I did a little of everything.  All of us tried to take pictures, but even with decent quality cell phone cameras, the low lighting and no flash didn’t lead to very many great shots.  The most amusing exchange came when someone compared the various costumes on stage to those from the Star Wars universe.

The challenge for me proved to be attempting to work my cell phone without missing the action on stage.  The static action during the first scene in Act 1 —  perfect for tweeting.  The Council Chamber scene — not so much.  If WiFi had been available, I could have used my non-3G iPad and been more efficient, but alas, no dice.

Regardless of what was being transmitted by each of us individually, it served the purpose of sharing the immediacy of the event with the world.  Others in attendance also used the same hashtag (#LAOBoccanegra) to post their own comments, as did Ms. Williams from backstage.  Non-attendees posted comments of their own, engaging in virtual dialogue with those of us in attendance.  When it was all done, everyone seemed happy:  tweet seaters all enjoyed both the performance and the act of sharing it with the Twitter-following universe, Ms. Williams from LA Opera was quite happy with the buzz generated, and none of the other audience members shot us any mean looks or evil eyes.  Not sure where this will eventually lead, but I’d like to think this was a good start.

UPDATE:  The inaugural LA Opera tweet seaters:  Amanda Agnello (@MrsAgnello), Katie B (@YelpLA), Classical KUSC (@ClassicalKUSC), Lauri Goldenhersh (@laurislist), CK Dexter Haven (@MrCKDH), Jocelyn (@jozjozjoz), Kristall Lutz (@Kristal_LA), Beverly Reynolds (@beverlynoelle), Chambers Stevens (@chambersstevens), Katherine Talley (@katherinetalley)

Three of my fellow tweet seaters: Katherine Talley, Beverly Reynolds, and Chambers Stevens

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Photo credits:

• Council Chamber, wide shot:  CK Dexter Haven
• All others:  Beverly Reynolds

Riccardo Muti and Cesar Franck

The mighty Chicago Symphony Orchestra is coming to California next week, their first West Coast visit in decades.  The impetus for their visit is to help the San Francisco Symphony celebrate their centennial, and since they made it this far, they’re making additional stops in Costa Mesa, Palm Desert, and San Diego.  The CSO Brass will also be appearing at the University of Redlands.

Where they won’t be visiting is Walt Disney Concert Hall, despite the fact that the LA Phil is away in Venezuela and the hall is vacant more than usual during that week; if one were to believe in the existence of a rivalry between the two orchestras, perhaps this is one more example of it.  Of course, the orchestra is not appearing anywhere else in Los Angeles County (e.g. Royce Hall, Ambassador Auditorium, Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts), so perhaps the Chicagoans just don’t like LA — go figure.

Tim Mangan interviewed the orchestra’s Music Director, Riccardo Muti, for the Orange County Register (read it HERE, and be sure to click through the slideshow).  Brian Lauritzen’s own interview with maestro Muti aired on KUSC-FM last Saturday, Feb 4, and has been archived online (click HERE to listen to the audio stream).

The CSO will be bringing two different programs on tour:  in San Diego and Palm Desert, they’ll be performing Schubert (music from Rosamunde plus the Symphony No. 9) and a new work by Anna Clyne, while Pacfic 231 by Honegger,  a new work by Mason Bates, and the lone symphony of Cesar Franck will be done in Orange County; San Francisco gets both programs (with an additional Honegger work for good measure).

In honor of their visit, or perhaps to get yourself ready for their visit, take a few minutes to download a free — FREE! — mp3 of a live recording of the Symphony in d minor by Cesar Franck, done by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons:

All you have to do is share some relatively  innocuous information with the Dutch orchestra’s website.  If you’re willing to do that, click HERE, and enjoy a fine take on the symphony:  spacious and energetic first movement, airy second, and propulsive third.  Plus, you get the bonus of some coughing and the tell-tale background sound of a Nokia ringtone shortly after the start of the second movement. . . . I did mention that it was a live recording and it was free, right?

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Photo credit:

• Riccardo Muti:  Todd Rosenberg, courtesy of the CSO
• Cesar Franck:  Pierre Petit, courtesy of the New York Public Library (public domain)

• The easiest way to follow along is to go to my twitter page:  https://twitter.com/#!/MrCKDH .  If you want to see the comments from all of the “tweet seaters,” the hashtag is #LAOBoccanegra.
• If you’re interested in following the action without going to Twitter, I’ve included a “tweet feed” on the top right of this blog.  It doesn’t refresh on its own, so you’ll have to refresh the webpage from time to time.

There’ll obviously be all the aspects of the performance and production to discuss, but there’s also the process itself.  This is, of course, all part of LA Opera’s promotion/experiment in social media.  Not sure where it is headed after this rehearsal:  will there be future tweet seats at dress rehearsals?  Will they allow/encourage tweeting at future concerts?  Will they let me do this again?

While tweeting at the opera is going to be new to me, I have done similar things.

• Usually Mrs. CKDH and I attend USC football games together, but when we don’t, we text back and forth constantly during the game, one sharing info that only can be seen/heard on TV while the other gives the scoop from inside the stadium.  Football is very conducive to this, with its constant pauses in between the action, so perhaps that isn’t the best proxy.
• While the audio from this year’s LA Phil season opening gala was streaming online, a live chat feed ran concurrently and I participated in the “discussion.”  It was easy enough to do and seemed fairly organic; however, unlike the opera, there was no visual element to which one paid attention, so perhaps that isn’t the best proxy either.

We’ll see how this all pans out.  At worst, I get a chance to hear some guy with not-a-whole-lot of baritone experience — um, Placido something or other.  At best, I help enlighten a major arts organization and change the world.  Stay tuned.