Since 2005, Martin Haselböck has been Music Director of Musica Angelica, Los Angeles’s premiere period instrument baroque ensemble. He’s been a prominent organist and conductor in his native Austria longer than that. So it was perhaps a little surprising that, until this past Thursday, he hadn’t yet appeared with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in any … Continue reading
I had been really looking forward to these concerts. It was supposed to feature two masterful Spaniards in a night featuring a good chunk of Spanish music. Unfortunately, that went by the wayside as Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor and friend of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, cancelled for health reasons. Pepe Romero, the distinguished guitarist (not … Continue reading
Saturday’s Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concert in Glendale featured music about places (New England, Brooklyn, and London) as set in two older pieces and one West Coast premiere. The theme worked very well, each piece on the program setting up the next one nicely. Jeffrey Kahane led everything joyously. If you were paying attention, … Continue reading
Back in 2007, long before All is Yar was a mere Fig Newton of my imagination, Victoria Bitter (VB) beer company teamed with the Melbourne Symphony and Orchestra Victoria — playing together as the “Victoria Bitter Orchestra” — to create a unique commercial: it featured the combined orchestras playing VB’s jingle using variations on a theme … Continue reading
Thoughts of this coming weekend’s concerts of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra conducted by their tech-loving Music Director, Jeffrey Kahane, reminded me of how he has increasingly taken to using iPads instead of regular sheet music, especially when playing the piano. Among other reasons, it helps him avoid page-turning snafus. Timo Andres also used one … Continue reading
It was Holy Thursday and a few days before Passover, and therefore rather appropriate that the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra would serve up the final version of this year year’s food-themed “Westside Connections” concerts as a kind of last supper. Margarat Batjer, LACO’s concertmaster and series curator, mentioned that the initial premise for the evening … Continue reading
As I’ve mentioned in the past, classical music marketing and advertising can be a thankless job. If you think it’s easy, you try finding something new to say about music that’s been around for hundreds of years. Go ahead, I’ll wait. . . . See? Not exactly a piece of cake. No one likes doing … Continue reading
Anton Bruckner wrote multiple settings of “Christus Factus Est Pro Nobis.” This particular one is near and dear to my heart because it was the first Bruckner motet I learned to sing. In fact, it was the first Bruckner work of any kind to which I was introduced. Here’s a rendition by the Bristol Cathedral … Continue reading
Long before Madonna was the most famous American in self-imposed exile in the UK, another noteworthy American-turned-Brit wrote some unkind words about April (or at least that’s what the Thunder said). Whatever. Don’t believe the hype — April is a kick-ass month, and this one in particular is full of all kinds of stuff … Continue reading
I don’t remember the last time I heard the Los Angeles Master Chorale have a less-than-impressive performance, let alone a bad day. It’s had to happen; the group is only human, after all. The Master Chorale has a long and distinguished history, but ever since Grant Gershon took over as Music Director in 2001, its … Continue reading
One of the benefits of living in a “big city” is that arts and entertainment options are relatively frequent and easy to come by. This provides both opportunities and challenges to both audiences and performers. For audiences: how do you choose to spend your valuable time and money? For performers: how do you break through … Continue reading
See for yourself what the St. Louis Symphony is up against. . . .The horror. The horror. Do your part today to help Save Powell Hall. Continue reading
Timothy “Timo” Andres was a busy man about Los Angeles this past week. Thursday night, he played Sorbet, his solo piano palate-cleanser, as part of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s “Westside Connections” series. Friday night and Saturday afternoon, he joined wild Up’s concerts highlighting younger composers and, as they described it, “the music of right … Continue reading
The good folks at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra have no qualms about taking non-standard approaches to building concert programs. Case in point: their annual “Westside Connections” series of three events curated by Margaret Batjer, LACO concertmaster, attempting to link music to the designated topic-of-the-year. This year’s edition looks for links between music and food. Each concert invites a different … Continue reading
The St. Louis Symphony implores you: Save Powell Hall. You have until April 14th. Do it now, before it’s too late. . . . If you have no idea what I’m talking about, click HERE. Has there ever been a better, more clever campaign by any orchestra? No. No, there hasn’t. Kudos to the SLSO. … Continue reading
All is Yar 