Hello again, folks. Long time no chat. Hope you’re well. It’s obviously been a while, and so let’s start getting caught up by talking about some key personnel moves across the Southern California orchestral landscape and beyond. New additions to the LA Phil (official and unofficial) Since the beginning of the calendar year, the Los … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Timothy Mangan
Music critic Tim Mangan gets laid off, quick notes from Ojai, and an anniversary
Hello, everyone. If you’re shocked that I’ve actually published something three days in a row, join the club. I realize that I’ve not been publishing at the rate I have in the past. I’m working on changing that. It’s not that I haven’t been writing; I have. It’s just hasn’t made it here to All is … Continue reading
Classical music concert etiquette redux (updated)
Timothy Mangan, renowned classical music critic and friend of All is Yar, recently published a piece in the Orange County Register titled “Concert etiquette baffling? Here’s a hand.” It does a splendid job demystifying and explaining the classical music and opera attendance experience for newbies and veterans alike. The two biggest topics he covers: appropriate dress and … Continue reading
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
Great moments in film music: Being John Malkovich
Inspired by Tim Mangan’s identically titled blog series, I offer up two brief scenes from Being John Malkovich which use the same excerpt from the second movement of Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta by Béla Bartók. The first is the opening scene of the movie featuring some startlingly life-like puppetry (John Cusack plays the puppeteer). The second … Continue reading
Five concerts, four conductors at different stages of their relationship w/ the LA Phil (part 3 of 4): Esa-Pekka Salonen then and now
When Esa-Pekka Salonen comes back to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic, you expect finely polished performances of complex programs. In two weekends of concerts earlier this month, that’s exactly what you got and then some. E-P was in town to help the orchestra celebrate Lutosławski’s centenary, with both sets of programs featuring major works by the … Continue reading
About freakin’ time
Originally posted on classical life:
From today’s Orange County Register online, and tomorrow’s print version, Page 2: Last item It has been our pleasure to serve you as the ruthless people columnist these past two-plus years, but as a philosopher once said, “All bad things must come to an end.” Today is our (as in…
Unofficial announcements: Los Angeles gets a new 2nd Flute, and Orange County gets its music critic back
Just to show that good things can actually happen to good people, music critic Timothy Mangan will once again be the classical music critic of The Orange County Register. According to his blog, Classical Life, Tim’s new/old job was definitely — if not yet publicly — confirmed by the newspaper’s new regime. No word … Continue reading
Yuja Wang is everyone’s social media darling + “All is Yar” has a Facebook page (finally)
Different people have different habits, especially when it comes to how you like to consume information. Some of you like to watch Olympic coverage in real time online or read about the results on ESPN or Twitter immediately after gold medals are handed out, while others prefer to sit through NBC’s tape-delayed faux-suspense-laden Olympic coverage … Continue reading
Worth the wait: Simon Rattle triumphantly returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic
There was a time not too long ago that had you mentioned that a fair-haired, mop top, wunderkind conductor was standing on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s podium, your image would have been of an Englishman rather than a Venezuelan. Simon Rattle (not yet knighted) was Principal Guest Conductor from 1981 to 1994, though as the … Continue reading
Muti on conducting new music and conducting in general; reviews from CSO’s concerts in SF
Tonight, the Chicago Symphony arrives in Southern California after too long an absence. The antici . . . pation is finally coming to an end. You’ve downloaded your free MP3 of Franck’s Symphony in d minor, listened to it intently, and now you’re ready for the real thing. A few last minute bits of fun: Continue reading
Chicago Symphony coming to California; download free MP3 of Franck symphony to celebrate
The mighty Chicago Symphony Orchestra is coming to California next week, their first West Coast visit in decades. The impetus for their visit is to help the San Francisco Symphony celebrate their centennial, and since they made it this far, they’re making additional stops in Costa Mesa, Palm Desert, and San Diego. The CSO Brass … Continue reading
Classical music marketing — try it yourself, win LA Opera tickets
Just got back from a week’s vacation up in Northern California: fun in Yosemite, Napa, and Sonoma. I spent some quality time outdoors hiking and relaxing, not to mention tasting some very yummy wines (more on that in the near future). Much of the week was spent unplugged and away from the internet (partially by … Continue reading
Comparing guest conductors’ rehearsal styles: how to endear yourself to an orchestra — or not
“The art of conducting lies, in my opinion, in the power of suggestion that a conductor exerts – on the audience as well as on the orchestra,” the conductor Otto Klemperer once observed. “A conductor must know how to hold attention. He must be able to lead the players with his eyes and the movements … Continue reading
Quick hits on a Tuesday
First and foremost, many thanks to Timothy Mangan, esteemed music critic and muppet fan extraordinaire, for adding “All is Yar” to the blogroll of ClassicalLife.net. As much as I appreciate his wry sense of humor when covering popular culture, I continue to hold out hope that the editors and publishers of the Orange County Register … Continue reading