Continuing the interview with Daniel Rothmuller, recently retired Associate Principal Cello of the Los Angeles Philharmonic: In the first part of the interview (HERE), Mr. Rothmuller and I chatted about his influences as a newcomer to the LA Phil, as well as stories and opinions about various conductors – especially Carlo Maria Giulini – and … Continue reading
If you’ve followed the Los Angeles Philharmonic at all during the past 40+ years, you’ve undoubtably seen Daniel Rothmuller. He’s a tough guy to miss. In concerts, not only did his role of Associate Principal Cello put him at the front of the stage, he had the habit of being the only gentleman to liven-up … Continue reading
The Hollywood Bowl is often a place for conductors and soloists to make their Los Angeles Philharmonic debuts. It’s a bit of trial by fire — if you can make a strong impression under the duress of limited rehearsal time and less-than-ideal performing conditions, then you might get invited for a gig downtown for the … Continue reading
Classical music, like life in general, abounds in so-called guilty pleasures. You know, the kind of stuff that you may not admit to friends that you like, but in the privacy of your own iPod earbuds, you relish with abandon. Warsaw Concerto is one for me. Carmina Burana is another one. Not a whole lot … Continue reading
Back in May of this year, I had the good fortune to be able to attend the world premiere performance of John Adams’ new oratorio, The Gospel According to the Other Mary. In addition to posting a review of that concert, I posted some pre-concert musings on the new work’s title and the identity of the … Continue reading
There’s lots going in this weekend. Pick something you like and go check it out. World premiere production of The Face The world premiere staged performance of Donald Crockett’s new chamber orchestra, The Face, is tonight at 8pm at the Aratani/Japan America Theater in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles. Subsequent performances will be … Continue reading
You hear of a night of Haydn conducted by the ever-sunny Nicholas McGegan, and you probably think, “That’s nice.” You notice that the Haydn Trumpet Concerto will be the centerpiece of the evening and you might say, “Hmmm, haven’t heard that performed in a while.” You realize that Alison Balsom is the trumpet soloist, … 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
Tchaikovsky concerts at the Hollywood Bowl are common occurrences. Thursday night’s Los Angeles Philharmonic concert was pretty typical, with a program featuring a pair of frequently heard warhorses: the Piano Concerto No. 1 and the Symphony No. 4. Then again, in some ways, this wasn’t all that typical. There were no fireworks, no 1812 Overture, … Continue reading
Different people have different habits, especially when it comes to how you like to consume information. Some of you like to watch Olympic coverage in real time online or read about the results on ESPN or Twitter immediately after gold medals are handed out, while others prefer to sit through NBC’s tape-delayed faux-suspense-laden Olympic coverage … Continue reading
I have more than a few things to say about last Tuesday’s Los Angeles Philharmonic concert at the Hollywood Bowl, as usual. But let’s get one thing out of the way, shall we? Yefim Bronfman is a bad-ass. Ok, perhaps this is old news, but even if that’s the case, it’s worth repeating. So many … Continue reading
When it comes to standard musical fare at the Hollywood Bowl, it’s tough to come up with two composers more iconic than George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein. Besides having their music performed pretty much every summer in the Cahuenga Pass, the two Americans have other close ties to the Bowl: The 1937 memorial concert commemorating … Continue reading
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
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
All is Yar 