(UPDATE: The official LACO press release about this announcement and details about their 2014-15 season is HERE) (UPDATE #2, April 26: Jeffrey Kahane’s full statement about his post-LACO plans is HERE) Pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane has announced that the 2016-2017 season will be his last as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Philharmonic wrapped up its whirlwind twelve day, seven city tour last week. Reviews from the trip were generally positive, many even glowing. Critics seemed most impressed by the performances of 20th & 21st Century works by Bjarnason, Corigliano, and Rachmaninoff, with Yuja Wang’s pianistic contributions also earning requisite praise. The smattering of negative comments made were mostly … Continue reading
The Berlin Philharmonic announced today that their new 1st Concertmaster will be Noah Bendix-Balgley, who is (gasp!) an American. Yes, I know that Americans have held jobs — even principal positions — with the Philharmoniker before (Carrie Dennis, the current Principal Viola of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, held the same position with the Berlin Phil before … Continue reading
With the start of the new Los Angeles Philharmonic season, it’s time once again to examine the current personnel situation at the orchestra. The first thing worth mentioning is that there isn’t much to mention, especially compared to previous seasons. Just eyeballing it, but it looks like the orchestra has the fewest empty chairs to … Continue reading
Late last week, multiple sources started buzzing with word that the Los Angeles Philharmonic had finally filled their vacant Principal Flute chair. According to those sources, French flutist Julien Beaudiment was hired for the position. The current Principal Flute of the Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon, he played a stint in Walt Disney Concert Hall this … Continue reading
The big buzz this morning is the Boston Symphony’s long-awaited announcement as to who will fill their Music Director’s chair that has been vacant since James Levine officially stepped down in 2011 (though health problems kept Mr. Levine away from the podium long before that). The choice: Andris Nelsons, the 34-year old Latvian maestro who has … Continue reading
The first time the Los Angeles Philharmonic held auditions to fill its Associate Principal Clarinet chair, no one was hired. During the past week, they tried again, and this time it looks like they made an offer — and it’s a doozy. No official word from the orchestra, but according to numerous sources, Burt Hara, … Continue reading
Gustavo Dudamel returned to the Los Angeles Philharmonic podium for the first time since October 14, 2012. Most of the next few weeks will be devoted to preparing programs for the orchestra’s upcoming tour to Europe and New York, but this past weekend’s concerts were not going to be played out of town. On paper, … Continue reading
At the end of my review of last year’s production of Albert Herring, I wrote this about James Conlon: “Long may he reign at Los Angeles Opera.” It looks like I’ll get my wish — at least for another five years. The company just announced that Mr. Conlon has extended his contract as LA Opera’s … Continue reading
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra announced this morning that Dale Clevenger, their renowned Principal Horn since 1966, will be retiring from the orchestra on June 30 of this year (read the official CSO press release HERE). This comes right on the heels of Indiana University announcing that he will join the Jacobs School of Music as … Continue reading
. Coming directly from the man himself — or at least his Twitter account — is this short and sweet statement from Robert deMaine: “I’m starting as Principal Cello in the Los Angeles Philharmonic officially on May 11. So excited!” Let me be among the first to congratulate Mr. deMaine and the orchestra on this … Continue reading
It’s been an unexpectedly unruly past two weeks for yours truly. I squeezed in a few concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall, but unfortunately didn’t have any capacity to do much of anything else, including write, until now. Time for me to start catching up. Before we get into my views of the performances, let’s … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s second week of concerts in the 2012/2013 season was clearly meant to be a contrast from the first. After having regaled us all with a sparkling world premiere of Symphony by Steven Stucky and a romp through the modernist machinations of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), Gustavo Dudamel decided … 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
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 