The Pacific Symphony’s choice of Alexander Shelley as its next Music Director has been a solid so far. He has crafted compelling programs. He’s made concise yet informative pre-performance comments from the podium. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s young, dashing, personable, and therefore a marketing department’s dream. Most importantly, he’s shown the capacity for …
Just when I was hitting my stride again with writing and blogging, I managed to injure my shoulder and arm. After trying to fight through the increasing pain and soreness, I finally got in checked out last week and discovered that I had actually torn something — muscle, tendon, ligament — not sure which yet. … Continue reading
“I think that Debussy is, perhaps, the most important composer of this century. I also happen to think that today, the future of classical music has a lot to do with Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, and less to do with Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern. The relationship between Debussy and Stravinsky is particularly interesting. First of all, … Continue reading
Recently, we were on our way to celebrate a family birthday at Chez Melange, the celebrant’s restaurant of choice. As we were about to leave the house, I peeked into our “wine cellar” to grab a wine for the evening — specifically, a cabernet sauvignon, since we all seemed to be in a beef & … Continue reading
Once again, the nice folks at Los Angeles Opera have invited me and the rest of the distinguished usual suspects to share our insightful observations, witty opinions, and occasional double entendres at the final dress rehearsal of one of their productions — 140 characters at a time. Tonight’s fun: The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner. … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Philharmonic has begun presenting to local audiences the programs they will be taking on tour, all of which include music exclusively from the 20th and 21st Century. London, Lucerne, Paris, and New York get the two big programs: one featuring works by Vivier, Debussy, and Stravinsky; the other with John Adams’s massive oratorio, The … Continue reading
The folks at “Jacaranda, Music on the Edge” are on a bit of a roll. The seats at Santa Monica’s First Presbyterian Church (AKA “First Preb”) were almost all full and the crowd was enthusiastic. The program, billed as “Thresholds: The Scandals of 1912-13” was chock-a-block with works from the Second Viennese School; however, in … Continue reading
Gustavo Dudamel returned to the Los Angeles Philharmonic podium for the first time since October 14, 2012. Most of the next few weeks will be devoted to preparing programs for the orchestra’s upcoming tour to Europe and New York, but this past weekend’s concerts were not going to be played out of town. On paper, … Continue reading
Sad news comes that pianist Van Cliburn has passed away this morning in Fort Worth, TX. He was 78 years old. I was a Van Cliburn fan from an early age. He was the first world-class pianist I ever knew by name, thanks to my parents owning his LP (yes, vinyl 33-1/3) of Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody … Continue reading
Charles Dutoit’s annual visits to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic have become a highlight of every season, and his residency this year was more of the glorious same. Adding to the joy was the chance to see and hear him conduct something other than the FrancoRussian rut he has been in during the past seven … Continue reading
As promised, I did my best to tweet details of the upcoming Los Angeles Philharmonic 2013/2014 season. That said, I’m sure there are those among you who didn’t follow along for whatever reason — perhaps you were otherwise occupied, or maybe you just don’t do that newfangled Twitter thing, or the dog ate your homework. … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Philharmonic will be announcing the details of their 2013/2014 season today’s at 12noon Pacific Time. I will be there, and for those wanting up-to-the-minute info, I am planning to live tweet from today’s press conference using the hashtag “#LAPhil1314” starting around 11:45am. To follow along, click HERE to get to http://www.twitter.com/MrCKDH or … Continue reading
At the end of my review of last year’s production of Albert Herring, I wrote this about James Conlon: “Long may he reign at Los Angeles Opera.” It looks like I’ll get my wish — at least for another five years. The company just announced that Mr. Conlon has extended his contract as LA Opera’s … Continue reading
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra announced this morning that Dale Clevenger, their renowned Principal Horn since 1966, will be retiring from the orchestra on June 30 of this year (read the official CSO press release HERE). This comes right on the heels of Indiana University announcing that he will join the Jacobs School of Music as … Continue reading
It really wasn’t just one single thing. Mostly, various unexpected events got in the way. The kind of stuff that not only takes up time on the calendar, but also space in the psyche. Usually, the trials and tribulations of life motivate me to write more, to use this medium as a respite from . … Continue reading
Just to prove to myself that I could summarize into three bullet points my thoughts on last Thursday’s Los Angeles Philharmonic concert: Emanuel Ax played Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25: Spectacular. Flawless. Brilliant. Dare I say, “Perfect.” Conductor Ludovic Morlot: Solid in Dutilleux’s The Shadows of Time and Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. The orchestra: Very good the whole night. There, I … Continue reading
All is Yar 