Four musical gifts you should give yourself if you didn’t get them during the holidays

Posted on January 14, 2014 by CK Dexter Haven • Leave a comment

Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, and Festivus — all of their latest editions are now a distant memory. Perhaps it passed by and you didn’t get the CD you had secretly hoped for. Or maybe you’ve got an Amazon gift card and you’ve decided that you should really stop accumulating novels about forlorn vampires that … Continue reading →

A million miles away, everywhere at once: <i>Invisible Cities</i> is an opera that embodies the LA experience

All Reviews / Architecture / Music News & Info: Classical / Other classical music concerts and recitals (in So Cal and beyond) / Reviews 2013/2014

A million miles away, everywhere at once: Invisible Cities is an opera that embodies the LA experience

Posted on December 4, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • Leave a comment

Yuval Sharon and the intrepid team at “The Industry” have done it again. Last year, they raised operatic hell with their innovative conceptualization of Anne LeBaron’s Crescent City. This year, their take on Chris Cerrone’s Invisible Cities has an entirely different vibe, but is innovative in its own way. Invisible Cities is one of those artistic … Continue reading →

Wafna! LA Master Chorale’s fortunes remain high with grand renditions of <i>Carmina Burana</i>, Verdi’s <i>Te Deum</i>

All Reviews / Los Angeles Master Chorale / Music News & Info: Classical / Reviews 2013/2014

Wafna! LA Master Chorale’s fortunes remain high with grand renditions of Carmina Burana, Verdi’s Te Deum

Posted on November 19, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • 2 Comments

After the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s rousing season opening gala, Music Director Grant Gershon decided to trot out a familiar crowd-pleaser for its second weekend of concerts: Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. For some, the cantata has worn out its welcome long ago, but for others — myself included — it remains an entertainingly addictive thrill-ride … Continue reading →

All Reviews / Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra / Music News & Info: Classical / Reviews 2013/2014

LA Chamber Orchestra offers a full musical spectrum in latest concert

Posted on November 3, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • Leave a comment

The second set of concerts in this Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra season featured the group’s typically interesting mix of old and new, familiar and unexpected. Music Director Jeffrey Kahane crafted a program featuring orchestral works by Britten and Mozart, and also generously invited two musicians to make their LACO debuts in a pair of divergent … Continue reading →

Of its own time and space: <i>Einstein on the Beach</i> alights onto the LA Opera stage in memorable fashion

All Reviews / Los Angeles Opera / Music News & Info: Classical / Reviews 2013/2014

Of its own time and space: Einstein on the Beach alights onto the LA Opera stage in memorable fashion

Posted on October 15, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • Leave a comment

Let’s see . . . how best to put this . . . Einstein on the Beach is like ice cream. Or sex. Or Yosemite. Or that famously stinky flower that blooms at The Huntington. You can read or hear descriptions, see pictures, even watch videos, but none of these come anywhere close to experiencing … Continue reading →

All Reviews / Los Angeles Philharmonic / Music News & Info: Classical / Reviews 2013/2014

Frank Gehry gets the hero treatment at LA Phil season opening gala

Posted on October 2, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • 2 Comments

The names on the program — Gustavo Dudamel, Yo-Yo Ma — were impressive, the kind that transcend classical music into the popular consciousness. The musical offering — Cage, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Adès, Mahler, Saint-Saëns — was noteworthy, both for its eclecticism and its ability to offer a diverse showcase for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Walt … Continue reading →

All Reviews / Los Angeles Master Chorale / Music News & Info: Classical / Reviews 2013/2014

A golden celebration for golden voices: LA Master Chorale struts its considerable stuff in a living tour through its legacy

Posted on September 29, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • 7 Comments

Of all the resident companies at The Music Center, the Los Angeles Master Chorale is the one that truly sets LA apart from other big metros. Orchestras, opera and theatre companies, even ballets, are a dime a dozen in other performing arts centers, but no one else can claim an independent choir of such high … Continue reading →

Strong vocalists overcome some hurdles in LA Opera’s season opening <i>Carmen</i>

All Reviews / Los Angeles Opera / Music News & Info: Classical / Reviews 2013/2014

Strong vocalists overcome some hurdles in LA Opera’s season opening Carmen

Posted on September 28, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • 12 Comments

The mood at Los Angeles Opera leading up to the beginning of this new season has been thoroughly buoyant, the result of a confluence of good news: After successfully dealing with a pulmonary embolism that kept him off stages and podiums all over the world, Plácido Domingo — the company’s General Director, überbaritenor, and part-time conductor — triumphantly returned to … Continue reading →

All Reviews / Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra / Music News & Info: Classical / Reviews 2013/2014

LA Chamber Orchestra & Benjamin Beilman dance their way through an impressive season opener

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Fiona Bryan • 1 Comment

(Publisher’s note. I’m thrilled to introduce the first-ever guest writer on All is Yar: Fiona Bryan. Fiona has a BM & MM in Violin Performance from Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University and University of Missouri, respectively, and has performed in various orchestras across the country. More recently, she’s been working in marketing, PR, and … Continue reading →

Rafael’s <i>Rite of Spring</i>: Frühbeck de Burgos puts his own stamp on Stravinsky masterwork with LA Phil

All Reviews / Los Angeles Philharmonic / Music News & Info: Classical / Reviews 2012/2013

Rafael’s Rite of Spring: Frühbeck de Burgos puts his own stamp on Stravinsky masterwork with LA Phil

Posted on July 25, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • Leave a comment

There have been so many performances this season of The Rite of Spring (AKA Le sacre du printemps in the original français) in celebration of the work’s centenary that some people have expressed concerns that the work was becoming over-exposed. You wouldn’t have known it by the number of seats filled Tuesday night at the Hollywood Bowl … Continue reading →

All Reviews / Los Angeles Philharmonic / Music News & Info: Rock, Jazz, World Music, etc. / Reviews 2012/2013

Rodrigo y Gabriela unleashed at the Hollywood Bowl

Posted on July 21, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • Leave a comment

When last we saw Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero — AKA Rodrigo y Gabriela — at the Hollywood Bowl, it was for their 2011 debut at the legendary amphitheater when they played two nights backed up by the full forces of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Between then and now, they appeared locally at smaller venues … Continue reading →

Soprano Delaram Kamareh, Knussen’s <i>Winnie the Pooh</i> steal the show at Southwest Chamber Music

All Reviews / Music News & Info: Classical / Reviews 2012/2013 / Southwest Chamber Music

Soprano Delaram Kamareh, Knussen’s Winnie the Pooh steal the show at Southwest Chamber Music

Posted on July 20, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • Leave a comment

Last Saturday night, Southwest Chamber Music opened the 20th anniversary season of their annual Summer Festival. Stravinsky’s Octet and Mozart’s Gran Partita provided the primary motivation for attending, especially if one happened to be a fan of wind instruments. But deep in the hundred acre woods of The Huntington where Jeff von der Schmidt and … Continue reading →

All Reviews / Los Angeles Master Chorale / Los Angeles Philharmonic / Music News & Info: Classical / Reviews 2012/2013

MTT and LA Phil kick off Hollywood Bowl classical season with Mahler 2nd

Posted on July 18, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • Leave a comment

The setting for last week’s first classical music concert of the 2013 Hollywood Bowl season couldn’t have been more perfect: the temperature was a picnic-perfect low 70’s, cooling down just a little as the sun set; the sky was clear and cloudless, and a very slight breeze blew through the amphitheater. It was, as the great … Continue reading →

Drink / Food / Mixology / Reviews 2012/2013

Finally, a chance to enjoy killer drinks and tasty food at Michael Voltaggio’s “ink.”

Posted on June 28, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • Leave a comment

One of the joys of living Los Angeles is having a plethora of wonderful places to eat. The challenge, however, is finding time in one’s schedule to make your way across town to try the latest place, and that is IF you actually can get a reservation for a day/time that fits your schedule. If … Continue reading →

All Reviews / Music News & Info: Classical / Other classical music concerts and recitals (in So Cal and beyond) / Reviews 2012/2013

Saturday at the Ojai Music Festival: ain’t no party like a West Coast party cuz a West Coast party don’t stop

Posted on June 17, 2013 by CK Dexter Haven • Leave a comment

Listening to music you’ve never heard before is, by definition, full of unknowns. One aspect you don’t always think about is how long a piece will take to play. Printed program notes frequently include estimated timings, but that isn’t always the case, and you’re at the mercy of the composer’s and musicians’ ability to keep … Continue reading →

	Wadsworth on Comings and goings at the LA P…
	CK Dexter Haven on Comings and goings at the LA P…
	Priscilla yam on Comings and goings at the LA P…
	EXCLUSIVE: Comparing… on LA Phil players ink new 5-year…
	EXCLUSIVE: Comparing… on LA Phil new contract redux: up…
	EXCLUSIVE: Comparing… on BREAKING: LA Phil musicians ra…
	Janne on I was (mostly) right: LA Phil…

All is Yar

by CK Dexter Haven. Music, drink, food, and more. Living the good life in all of its many forms.

Category Archives: All Reviews