Happy Birthday, United States of America! The typical celebratory music for the occasion would be a march by John Philip Sousa. Certainly, Sousa marches such as The Stars and Stripes Forever, The Washington Post, and Semper Fidelis, are the very definition of patriotic marches for most Americans. Of course, there are other American marches by … Continue reading
I don’t remember the first time I had foie gras, but I definitely know when and where I fell in love with it: it was at Water Grill in Downtown LA, right before the turn of the New Millenium. Michael Cimarusti had taken over the kitchen from Allyson Thurber a year or two before. On this … Continue reading
An article in Boston magazine recently posted on their website tells the tale of two percussionists and their attempts to join the Boston Symphony. The bulk of the story follows Michael Tetreault, a Colorado musician who is trying to fill one of the two vacancies in the BSO’s percussion section. There is also time spent with Lee Vinson, … Continue reading
—– Props to @jozjozjoz for pointing me to the video above, with apologies to Carl Orff. It is one of the best and funniest “mis-heard lyrics” I’ve seen and heard, almost as good as the granddaddy of ’em all: this interpretation of Pearl Jam’s Yellow Ledbetter. Make me fries. Continue reading
It’s good to be back. Took an unexpected and unintended couple of weeks away from the blog. Unlike some of my fellow bloggers who were on one kind of planned hiatus or another, my trusty new laptop decided to freak out on me. It had done it once before and the folks at the Genius … Continue reading
Exactly one year ago today, All is Yar was born. Many heartfelt thanks to the musicians, writers, composers, music fans, wine drinkers, mixology enthusiasts, and all of you who have read and continue to read my reviews and musings. In the past year, this blog has grown bigger and faster than I would have imagined. It’s … Continue reading
No official announcement from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but it looks like their recent Second Horn audition was won by Gregory Roosa. Mr. Roosa is currently horn player with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He joined that orchestra in 2003 after having held similar positions with the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony. … Continue reading
“Great” is an often overused and mis-applied word, but is unquestionably appropriate in describing Martha Argerich. The great Argentinian pianist was born on June 5, 1941, which makes her 71 years old today. Her appearances are always events, partly because they are relatively rare. Every few years, her name comes up on a local program, … Continue reading
The sad news has come from St. Petersburg, Russia, that Eduard Khil has died. He had suffered a stroke in late May and been in critical condition since then. He was 77 years old. The Soviet baritone is best known in the West as “Mr. Trololo” after a video he filmed in 1976 went viral … Continue reading
Carmela Ciuraru — writer extraordinaire and friend of All is Yar — is appearing at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena tomorrow at 4pm to discuss and read from her critically-acclaimed book, Nom de Plume. She’ll be joined and interviewed by Nick Owcher, book editor for the Los Angeles Times. She rarely makes it out to California, so take this … Continue reading
For their season finale, the Los Angeles Philharmonic ordered up a world premiere of a major new work from John Adams, their Creative Chair and one of the most prominent American composers currently living. Once again, the orchestra was thinking big and taking risks. You’ve gotta appreciate their moxy. Audentes fortuna juvat — “Fortune favors the … Continue reading
The distinguished American pianist turns 69 years old today. Click HERE to read my review of his performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic earlier this season, and watch the video excerpt below of him giving a master class at Bard College Conservatory in 2009. RELATED POST: The world we live in, and life in general: … Continue reading
I’m killing time before this evening’s Los Angeles Philharmonic concert by drinking an old fashioned — a really good one, BTW, care of the bartender at the Omni Hotel near Walt Disney Concert Hall. Anyways, I started thinking about tonight’s world premiere of The Gospel According to the Other Mary, a modern bit of social … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Philharmonic recently held auditions to find a new Principal Cello to replace Peter Stumpf, whose name still appears on their roster as being “On Leave” but who hasn’t been with the orchestra all season. The required repertoire list for the audition included some excerpts that would be expected (Haydn Concerto, Don Quixote, La … Continue reading
Twenty-four notes. Among the most recognizable twenty-four notes in America, regardless of genre of music one usually listens to. The history for this bugle call goes back to the Civil War. If one has spent time in any branch of the United States military, you’d most commonly hear Taps played to signal the end of … Continue reading
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