REVIEW: Paavo Järvi opens eyes and ears with latest LA Phil appearance
You still pondering who could be the next Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic? Paavo Järvi has entered the chat.
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VIDEO: Carlo Maria Giulini rehearsing the LA Phil in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
Kudos and endless gratitude to Tim Mangan for originally finding and sharing this blast from the past: Carlo Maria Giulini rehearsing the opening of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. According to the voice over at the beginning of the video, this was filmed during one of ten(!) … Continue reading
Salonen, Wang, Hooten, and the LA Phil create their own fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl
A little bit of Esa-Pekka Salonen is better than none at all. And so it turned out this past week with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The original plan was that the orchestra’s beloved Conductor Laureate was supposed to be at the Hollywood Bowl for two concerts, beginning Tuesday night when he and pianist Yefim Bronfman (long-time … Continue reading
VIDEO: “Word Crimes” is brilliant
A tip of the hat to Shannita Williams (LA Opera’s Associate Director of Communications, Social Media) for pointing me towards “Weird Al” Yankovic’s latest release, “Word Crimes,” an absolutely spot-on ode to proper grammar and word usage, set to the tune of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” I’m a little sad he didn’t skewer “very unique” in his rant, and … Continue reading
RIP Lorin Maazel (updated)
American conductor Lorin Maazel died earlier today from complications of pneumonia at his home in Virginia. He was 84. The former child prodigy was born in 1930, began playing violin in “the Karl Moldrem Baby Orchestra” by the age of five, and was conducting at seven years old. In 1938, he made his first appearance on the … Continue reading
A chat with Ben Jaffe about Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s past, future, and interesting partnerships in their present
Preservation Hall Jazz Band returns once again to Southern California tonight, this time for their inaugural visit to the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. This makes about a half-dozen visits to the area since they released That’s It!, their first-ever album devoted exclusively to new compositions (notwithstanding the special editions that include some live versions of classics such as … Continue reading
VIDEO: The best combination of music, beer, and technology ever devised
Yesterday was Canada Day (aka “Canada’s Birthday”), and I trust my Canadian friends spent the day doing appropriately Canadian-ish things — you know, like singing “O Canada” and drinking an appropriately Canadian alcoholic beverage. With that in mind, the good folks at Molson Brewing honored Canada Day by sharing the most ingenious and wonderful kind … Continue reading
Spending time with Grant Gershon (Part 2 of 2): what he looks for in singers, meeting Nelson Mandela, and more
This coming Sunday marks the final concert of the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s landmark 50th Anniversary Season. For the occasion, Music Director Grant Gershon has put together a typically forward-looking program of works by Shawn Kirchner, David Lang, Francisco Núñez, Gabriela Lena Frank, and – last but certainly not least – Esa-Pekka Salonen. All … Continue reading
VIDEO: Bruce Springsteen covers Lorde’s “Royals”
Bruce Springsteen singing Lorde’s hip-hop-influenced pop tune “Royals?” Believe it. As a matter of fact, both song and singer hold up very nicely, thank you very much. Actually, it makes perfect sense that the quintessential blue-collar bard from New Jersey would cover the working-class 17-year old girl from New Zealand to offer this unlikely take on the anthem which thumbs its … Continue reading
My chat with Plácido Domingo about singing Schubert lieder, plus Renée Fleming ponders singing baritone too
It’s quite been quite a week for Southern California opera fans: Los Angeles Opera just finished a three-show run of André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire starring soprano Renée Fleming as Blanche DuBois, a role she created in the original 1998 production for San Francisco Opera. Reviews have been mostly positive: Timothy Mangan (Los Angeles Register) generally liked it despite some … Continue reading
News about the LA Phil brass and a former principal flute, plus two guys named McGill and more
Over the past couple of years, my euphoria about the bad-assness of the three current brass principals of the Los Angeles Philharmonic — Andrew Bain (horn), Tom Hooten (trumpet), and Nitzan Haroz (trombone) — has been somewhat tempered by a fear that, for one reason or another, the trio might not stick together very long. … Continue reading
Shaham’s Bartók, Denève’s Rachmaninoff pair nicely at Walt Disney Concert Hall
(Publisher’s note: We’re very happy to welcome back Fiona Bryan, writer and violinist, to All is Yar for this concert review). In the short year and a half that I have lived in Southern California, I have come to expect the unexpected when it comes to programming presented by various cultural organizations around Los Angeles. The progressive landscape of … Continue reading
For Carlo Maria Giulini’s 100th birthday, FREE Bruckner download and video of Schumann 3rd
The late Carlo Maria Giulini, iconic Italian conductor and former Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, was born 100 years ago today (May 9, 1914). In celebration, the good folks at Deutsche Grammophon are giving away a FREE download (click HERE) of the third movement of Bruckner’s 7th Symphony with Signor Giulini conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in a … Continue reading
Lesley Leighton and I celebrate Paul Salamunovich 6-8pm tonight on KXLU radio
For the past couple of months, Mystic Pete — KXLU radio personality, friend of All is Yar, and all-around man about town — has been trying to get me to back on the air at KXLU. For various reasons, I hadn’t been able to make it work on my end; however, when we all learned of the sad … Continue reading
Drink / Reviews 2013/2014 / Santa Barbara / Travel / Wine
Visiting Santa Barbara County wineries: a primer
I regularly get asked by friends and family who are planning on going wine tasting to share my advice and recommendations with them. After sending variations of the same emails to many of them, I decided to publish my thoughts for everyone to use and enjoy. Let’s start with Santa Ynez Valley and Sta. Rita Hills wineries … Continue reading
Appointments / Auditions & Appointments / Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra / Music News & Info: Classical
Jeffrey Kahane’s full statement about his post-LACO plans
Yesterday’s news that Jeffrey Kahane was stepping down in 2017 as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra not only began a long goodbye three years in the making, it caused a little bit of consternation among fans of the pianist/conductor regarding what he’d do after his tenure was done. According to the Los Angeles Times, … Continue reading
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