This week at the Hollywood Bowl, conductor Stéphane Denève returns to Southern California to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in two different programs. Tuesday’s concert features two works not often heard at the Bowl (or anywhere else for that matter): Stokowski’s “Symphonic Synthesis” of Mussorgsky’s music from Boris Godunov and the lone violin concerto of … Continue reading
For the longest time when it came to Twitter, I fought the power. I thought it served best as a source of comedic fodder for late night talk shows and their friends (e.g. how could anything ever top this brilliance? I gained a newfound respect for Josh Groban after seeing it). I finally jumped into … Continue reading
Happy Friday. In case you don’t make it out to any concerts this weekend, the concert can come to you: Between now and Monday at 12noon Eastern Time, the Detroit Symphony is streaming their recent performance of Music Director Leonard Slatkin conducting the Mahler Fifth Symphony and the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 22 with Emanuel … Continue reading
I’m not able to make any concerts this week due to various conflicts, but that shouldn’t keep any of you from going, nor should it keep me from talking about them. . . . Hollywood Bowl, Week 2 The Los Angeles Philharmonic second week of summer classical concerts were programmed similarly to the way Week … Continue reading
It was time for musicians to break out their summer whites and for the audiences to try to not roll empty bottles of wine down concrete steps. That’s right: I’m talking about summer at the Hollywood Bowl. After a few concerts of playing back-up band to Barry Manilow, the Los Angeles Philharmonic opened the classical … Continue reading
In May 2010, a few months after Mathieu Dufour decided to return to his old chair in Chicago, the Los Angeles Philharmonic held auditions for a new Principal Flute to replace him. They ended up offering the position to David Buck, then principal with the Oregon Symphony, without requiring any kind of trial period. Fast … Continue reading
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
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
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
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
All is Yar 