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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Happy Birthday, “All is Yar”
Exactly one year ago today, All is Yar was born. Many heartfelt thanks to the musicians, writers, composers, music fans, wine drinkers, mixology enthusiasts, and all of you who have read and continue to read my reviews and musings. In the past year, this blog has grown bigger and faster than I would have imagined. It’s … Continue reading
Results from LA Phil’s recent 2nd Horn audition
No official announcement from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but it looks like their recent Second Horn audition was won by Gregory Roosa. Mr. Roosa is currently horn player with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He joined that orchestra in 2003 after having held similar positions with the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony. … Continue reading
Happy Birthday to the great Martha Argerich
“Great” is an often overused and mis-applied word, but is unquestionably appropriate in describing Martha Argerich. The great Argentinian pianist was born on June 5, 1941, which makes her 71 years old today. Her appearances are always events, partly because they are relatively rare. Every few years, her name comes up on a local program, … Continue reading
RIP, Eduard Khil (aka Mr. Trololo)
The sad news has come from St. Petersburg, Russia, that Eduard Khil has died. He had suffered a stroke in late May and been in critical condition since then. He was 77 years old. The Soviet baritone is best known in the West as “Mr. Trololo” after a video he filmed in 1976 went viral … Continue reading
Author Carmela Ciuraru makes SoCal appearance on Sunday
Carmela Ciuraru — writer extraordinaire and friend of All is Yar — is appearing at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena tomorrow at 4pm to discuss and read from her critically-acclaimed book, Nom de Plume. She’ll be joined and interviewed by Nick Owcher, book editor for the Los Angeles Times. She rarely makes it out to California, so take this … Continue reading
All Reviews / Los Angeles Master Chorale / Los Angeles Philharmonic / Music News & Info: Classical / Reviews 2011/2012
Forgive them for they know not what they do: Adams & Sellars over-reach with “The Gospel According to the Other Mary”
For their season finale, the Los Angeles Philharmonic ordered up a world premiere of a major new work from John Adams, their Creative Chair and one of the most prominent American composers currently living. Once again, the orchestra was thinking big and taking risks. You’ve gotta appreciate their moxy. Audentes fortuna juvat — “Fortune favors the … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Richard Goode
The distinguished American pianist turns 69 years old today. Click HERE to read my review of his performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic earlier this season, and watch the video excerpt below of him giving a master class at Bard College Conservatory in 2009. RELATED POST: The world we live in, and life in general: … Continue reading
Is “The Gospel According to the Other Mary” mis-named?
I’m killing time before this evening’s Los Angeles Philharmonic concert by drinking an old fashioned — a really good one, BTW, care of the bartender at the Omni Hotel near Walt Disney Concert Hall. Anyways, I started thinking about tonight’s world premiere of The Gospel According to the Other Mary, a modern bit of social … Continue reading
Who’ll be the next LA Phil Principal Cello? Two finalists emerge
The Los Angeles Philharmonic recently held auditions to find a new Principal Cello to replace Peter Stumpf, whose name still appears on their roster as being “On Leave” but who hasn’t been with the orchestra all season. The required repertoire list for the audition included some excerpts that would be expected (Haydn Concerto, Don Quixote, La … Continue reading
On Memorial Day, a musical tribute to those who died wearing the uniform
Twenty-four notes. Among the most recognizable twenty-four notes in America, regardless of genre of music one usually listens to. The history for this bugle call goes back to the Civil War. If one has spent time in any branch of the United States military, you’d most commonly hear Taps played to signal the end of … Continue reading
LA Phil’s history with Mozart’s Posthorn Serenade
Following up regarding my last post about Friday night’s Los Angeles Philharmonic concert, here’s one extra little tidbit about Mozart’s Posthorn Serenade and the orchestra: As stated in both printed and online version of the program notes, the first performance was March 26, 1942, with George Szell conducting. Until this season, the most recent performance … Continue reading
Nothing casual about this Mozart: Kiera Duffy joins Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil
It wasn’t supposed to be an all-Mozart program. What was originally announced as a Tchaikovsky/Sibelius program morphed a couple of times over the course of this season before landing on its final form. One of the subscribers wasn’t happy about all the repeated changes and made her opinion known during the “Casual Friday” post-concert Q&A. With … Continue reading
Free new music concert for veterans tonight
Tonight is the final concert of Southwest Chamber Music’s LA International New Music Festival. In honor of Memorial Day and the men and women who have worn the uniform, Southwest is offering free admission to veterans. The concert at Zipper Hall at the Colburn School begins at 8pm, with a free 7pm pre-concert discussion with … Continue reading
Southwest Chamber Music’s promising new festival
A four-concert event called “The Inaugural LA International New Music Festival” certainly sounds like a big deal. You can forgive Southwest Chamber Music for giving their nascent new music series such an official, highfalutin’ sounding name. With the city’s long-standing reputation as an incubator of new music and home to many prominent composers, you’d think an event … Continue reading
Glenn Dicterow to leave NY Phil and join USC Thornton
As if there hasn’t been enough big, crazy musical news out of New York this week, the announcement came earlier today that Glenn Dicterow, Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic since 1980, will join the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music in Fall of 2013 and then step down from his NY Phil … Continue reading
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