This past weekend’s press release from Los Angeles Opera about Music Director James Conlon’s latest contract extension through the end of the 2020/2021 season included statements from General Director Plácido Domingo, Board Chair Marc Stern, and Mr. Conlon himself. One person who was not quoted was the company’s Resident Conductor, Grant Gershon, so I asked him for … Continue reading
The term “unknown masterpiece” is one usually ascribed to works that haven’t seen the light of day for decades or centuries before somehow being unearthed: a Bach aria stashed amidst birthday cards in a Weimar library or a $5 thrift store painting that may end up being a long-lost Jackson Pollack. Lagrime di San Pietro (Tears of … Continue reading
There are few places that celebrate living composers and their works more than the Ojai Festival. And among those favored by this haven for contemporary classical music is Kaija Saariaho. She first gained notice in the early 1980’s as part of the “Ears Open Society,” the Finnish collective of Sibelius Academy alumni which included Esa-Pekka … Continue reading
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
Ojai Music Festival Artistic Director Tom Morris and the other good folks on his team are still ramping up for this summer’s fun, featuring pianist (and blogger) Jeremy Denk as Music Director. But that didn’t stop them from giving us a little advanced notice about who’ll be taking the reigns in the future. According to the … Continue reading
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
Esa-Pekka Salonen was back for his second week with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. With a world premiere of the abandoned opera, Orango, paired with the withdrawn-for-25-years Symphony No. 4, his all-Shostakovich concerts were a study of two contrasting works that had both been hidden and eventually brought to new light. To add to the lost-and-found theme, E-P himself … Continue reading
All is Yar 