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 …
Though the Hollywood Bowl has been open for about a month, the Los Angeles Philharmonic play did not play in their white jackets (and blouses) under the venue’s iconic white arches until this past Friday and Saturday when they gave the word premiere performances of the full film score to West Side Story. They followed it … Continue reading
My friend, Carmela Ciuraru (not a pseudonym), continues to gain much positive attention for her most recent book, Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms (Harper Collins). Carmela is a wonderful writer with an arrestingly dry sense of humor*, and she takes an interesting concept (which, not-so-shockingly, is near and dear to my heart) … Continue reading
Peter Stumpf, Principal Cello of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, gave his first recital in Indiana since being announced as a new full-time professor of music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. The review of the Jun 29th concert in the Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) was unequivocally glowing, with Peter Jacobi calling Mr. Stumpf “a musician of … Continue reading
Sometimes, there is just too much good stuff to do. Such was the case with the 2011 Los Angeles Guitar Festival held at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center this past weekend: despite wanting to see the vast array of performers on both July 2nd and 3rd, other priorities held sway and I could not … Continue reading
Happy Independence Day, everyone! What better way to celebrate the 235th birthday of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave than with a little bit of FREE patriotic music, care of the USAF Bands [updated] . Their website offers free downloads HERE and HERE, which can come in handy if you: Are you a … Continue reading
Ahhh, it is July, and a classic Southern California Summer is brewing: the sun is shining with no clouds in sight, there is a slight breeze in the air to keep you cool, and the water temp is in the high 60’s and climbing. Once the waves grow higher than their current ankle-slapper status, conditions … Continue reading
The results are in, and the first place winners in each category are: Piano: Daniil Trifonov. The 20-year old Russian pianist had already made a name for himself, initially by taking third place at the Chopin competition late last year, and then following it up with a first place finish and gold medal at the Artur … Continue reading
As we await the final results from the XIV Tchaikovsky International Competition, let me take a moment and wish Esa-Pekka Salonen a very happy birthday. The Principal Conductor of the Philharmonia and Conductor Laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic turns 53 today. Continue reading
First of all, I must say, “Thank you very much” for all of you who have visited All is Yar since I began it twenty one days ago. I’m glad you have taken some of your busy time to see what I’ve shared, and I hope you come back often. Special thanks must go to … Continue reading
After spending some time chatting on Tim Mangan’s blog about how the Pacific Symphony chose to put together its 2011-2012 season, I was reminded of a little contest that Sam Bergman and Sarah Hicks of the Minnesota Orchestra decided to hold a couple of years ago. The concept, in short, was to “put yourself in … Continue reading
The Pacific Symphony announced details of their 2011-2012 winter season. Timothy Mangan, music critic and blogger extraordinaire, refrained from comment (for now, at least) but invited others to share their thoughts instead. I couldn’t resist. Click HERE to see what I thought. Continue reading
Typically, when the weekend comes around, Mrs. CKDH & I tend to open a bottle of wine (or perhaps two or six bottles, depending on which folks we happen to be drinking with). Since last weekend was a particularly celebratory one filled special occasions with family, friends, and lots of yummy cuts of USDA prime … Continue reading
J. D. Power and Associates (JDPA) released the 2011 results of their much-watched Initial Quality Study (IQS). The noteworthy findings are: Lexus has the fewest problems of any brand in the industry. The leading seller of luxury vehicles in the US won highest-quality awards in every segment in which they were eligible, with ES, GS, GX, … Continue reading
Many people enjoy Wagner’s Ring. Some are even devoted to it enough trapse across the globe to see full productions of it. I am neither of those types of people. I’ve always respected it when critics were willing to acknowledge their inherent biases against a particular composer or performer. The late great Alan Rich made … Continue reading
Peter Stumpf is not the only Los Angeles Philharmonic principal taking next year off: Donald Green, the orchestra’s Principal Trumpet, will begin a sabbatical at the end of this summer’s Hollywood Bowl season before returning to the orchestra next summer, and then retiring. In anticipation of Mr. Green’s retirement, the orchestra will be holding auditions … Continue reading
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