Last May, the Los Angeles Philharmonic presented Don Giovanni with a vocally and visually strong baritone leading a solid cast in a thoroughly avant-garde production. Beginning tonight, Los Angeles Opera presents the same opera, with another hunky baritone leading a another solid cast, this time in an unapologetically traditional production. Judging by Wednesday’s final dress … Continue reading
Opening night for Los Angeles Opera’s latest production of Don Giovanni isn’t until this coming Saturday, Sept 22nd, but I’ll be back at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion tonight, live tweeting the final dress rehearsal. Unlike last Saturday’s gala opening of I Due Foscari (The Two Foscari), this time I’ll be in the front of the … Continue reading
Here are some pictures from me and others from last night’s season opening performance of Verdi’s I Due Foscari (The Two Foscari) at Los Angeles Opera starring Plácido Domingo. Continue reading
Tonight marks the opening of Los Angeles Opera’s 2012/2013 season with a new production of Verdi’s rarely performed I Due Foscari (The Two Foscari). Plácido Domingo takes on the role of Francesco Foscari, his latest foray into the baritone repertoire and 140th role overall (give or take) in his illustrious career. I’ll be there tonight, … Continue reading
Finally, some good news on the orchestral administrative front. The Milwaukee Symphony offered up a one-two punch with their press release today, announcing not only a balanced budget but also the appointment of Principal Trumpet Mark Niehaus as the MSO’s new President and Executive Director. According to the MSO: Continue reading
The Hollywood Bowl is often a place for conductors and soloists to make their Los Angeles Philharmonic debuts. It’s a bit of trial by fire — if you can make a strong impression under the duress of limited rehearsal time and less-than-ideal performing conditions, then you might get invited for a gig downtown for the … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Los Angeles Opera press conference centered around celebrating Plácido Domingo. Board members and politicians were on hand to offer their praises, stories, and tokens of appreciation to the organization’s General Director and probably the world’s most famous living opera singer. The reason for this latest round of adulation? Three things: Continue reading
Classical music, like life in general, abounds in so-called guilty pleasures. You know, the kind of stuff that you may not admit to friends that you like, but in the privacy of your own iPod earbuds, you relish with abandon. Warsaw Concerto is one for me. Carmina Burana is another one. Not a whole lot … Continue reading
The final concert of Southwest Chamber Music’s 2012 summer season at The Huntington proved to be a popular ending to what has been a popular series. Attendance on the Logia was overflowing to the point where an extra row of seating was hastily added right as the concert was about to begin. As with the … Continue reading
For tonight’s concert of incidental music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Mendelssohn and Orff’s Carmina Burana, I decided to bring along a couple of 2004 wines: a Late Disgorged Brut from Domaine Carneros and a Ridge Lytton Springs. Both are drinking damn well. No matter how many times I drink “older” Lytton Springs, I … Continue reading
Back in May of this year, I had the good fortune to be able to attend the world premiere performance of John Adams’ new oratorio, The Gospel According to the Other Mary. In addition to posting a review of that concert, I posted some pre-concert musings on the new work’s title and the identity of the … Continue reading
There’s lots going in this weekend. Pick something you like and go check it out. World premiere production of The Face The world premiere staged performance of Donald Crockett’s new chamber orchestra, The Face, is tonight at 8pm at the Aratani/Japan America Theater in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles. Subsequent performances will be … Continue reading
You hear of a night of Haydn conducted by the ever-sunny Nicholas McGegan, and you probably think, “That’s nice.” You notice that the Haydn Trumpet Concerto will be the centerpiece of the evening and you might say, “Hmmm, haven’t heard that performed in a while.” You realize that Alison Balsom is the trumpet soloist, … Continue reading
Anna Prohaska, recently appearing as Zerlina in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s production of Don Giovanni, is seen here at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Salzburg Festival singing some different Mozart: Exsultate, Jubilate (K. 165) What makes the performance more impressive is that she was only given a few hours notice that she’d be performing … Continue reading
Just to show that good things can actually happen to good people, music critic Timothy Mangan will once again be the classical music critic of The Orange County Register. According to his blog, Classical Life, Tim’s new/old job was definitely — if not yet publicly — confirmed by the newspaper’s new regime. No word … Continue reading
All is Yar 