When Esa-Pekka Salonen comes back to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic, you expect finely polished performances of complex programs. In two weekends of concerts earlier this month, that’s exactly what you got and then some. E-P was in town to help the orchestra celebrate Lutosławski’s centenary, with both sets of programs featuring major works by the … Continue reading
Saturday night’s Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concert featured a first half with a rustic sensibility and a second half with an urban vibe. Both halves were anchored by an American classic in a less-often heard rendition: The country mouse portion featured Dvořák’s Serenade for Winds paired Appalachian Spring Suite in Copland’s original 1944 version. After intermission, … Continue reading
The first time I learned about Lionel Bringuier was in November 2006. The late great Alan Rich wrote about how the powers-that-be at the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the time — among them, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Deborah Borda, orchestra musicians, and board members — were blown away by Mr. Bringuier and named him Assistant Conductor at … Continue reading
Based solely on what I saw and heard a couple of weeks ago, I’d guess that Vasily Petrenko and the Los Angeles Philharmonic have a good thing going. Throw in the fact that Rick Schultz said in the Los Angeles Times that Mr. Petrenko “made a deeply felt, unforgettable impression” at his January 2010 debut with … Continue reading
Despite my tardiness, I’ve still been wanting to write about last month’s Los Angeles Philharmonic performance of the Mahler 5th Symphony. Sure, at least three loyal readers have been prodding me in public and private to do so. On top of that, the concert featured Daniel Harding, a conductor who hasn’t made a visit to … Continue reading
Full disclosure: Madame Butterfly is not one of my favorite operas. I understand its popularity and appreciate its usual appeal to most of its fans (sweeping melodies, exotic locales, an easy-to-feel-sorry-for heroine, etc.), but no matter how many chances I give it, I’m never drawn into the music or the drama. Count me in the … Continue reading
On paper, Friday night’s Los Angeles Philharmonic concert seemed straightforward enough: a program filled with loads of well-known hum-along tunes, a beloved old-school conductor (Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos) on the podium, and a popular soloist (Lynn Harrell) joining in on the fun. In the concert hall, everything was generally as one would expect: the music … Continue reading
Esa-Pekka Salonen is certainly among the most popular of classical musicians world-wide, but here in Southern California, it’s on a slightly different level. You’d expect the current Conductor Laureate and former Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic to have a strong following among the locals, and sure enough, he got a loud and prolonged … Continue reading
Continuing my efforts to clear my mental backlog of things I’ve wanted to write about during the past two weeks but couldn’t, below are my (slightly abridged) thoughts on three Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts from last week, specifically: Gustavo Dudamel’s multimedia concert featuring Ravel and Knussen The first Green Umbrella concert of the year, with … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Master Chorale and their Music Director, Grant Gershon, get ready to officially kick-off their 2012/2013 this coming Sunday. Among the music to be featured that night are works by Nico Muhly that they have previously recorded: Bright Mass with Canons and the West Coast premiere of A Good Understanding. All that said, … Continue reading
Los Angeles Opera made some cast changes for the last two performances of Don Giovanni, the most noteworthy being the addition of Angela Meade as Donna Anna (Julianna Di Giacomo played the role for the first five performances). The winner of the 2011 Richard Tucker Award and the Met’s 2012 Beverly Sills Artist Award, Ms. … 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
Do you have one of those friends that are good at seemingly everything they do? You might already know that they’re like that, but when you see them in action you always have to shake your head in surprise and admiration. Jeffrey Kahane and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra are like that. They kicked off … Continue reading
Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic opened their 2012/2013 season with a contemplative work by Ravel, a world premiere by Steven Stucky, and Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring). In other words, it was Retro Week at Walt Disney Concert Hall. This is exactly the kind of program which the orchestra … Continue reading
Last May, the Los Angeles Philharmonic presented Don Giovanni with a vocally and visually strong baritone leading a solid cast in a thoroughly avant-garde production. Beginning tonight, Los Angeles Opera presents the same opera, with another hunky baritone leading a another solid cast, this time in an unapologetically traditional production. Judging by Wednesday’s final dress … Continue reading
All is Yar 