Despite appearances, I am not yet back full-time on the classical music beat. Some of you have been asking.
I carved out some time from the celebrity column and got a sub to write it in order to do my three most recent reviews.
But I’m still on celebs for now, and am missing a lot of stuff I’d like to cover. I have no ETA for my re-assignment back to classical, but it should happen soon-ish, and I’ll let you all know. If I haven’t drunk too much champagne to do so, that is.
The company performs a rare early opera by Verdi in concert form. Placido Domingo sings half of the title roles.
Click here to read my review, or pick up a copy of tomorrow’s Orange County Register.
Also on the program: the world premiere of Steven Stucky’s Symphony.
The pianist appeared with the Pacific Symphony last night.
Read my review here, or pick up a copy of tomorrow’s Orange County Register.
The good folks over at Fullerton Friends of Music have unveiled their 54th season schedule and it looks like a good one, on paper at least.
The group will present concerts by the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, El Mundo, the Linden String Quartet, the Horzowski Trio, the Bennewitz Quartet and Members of the French Philharmonic and French National Orchestra. The repertoire looks interesting, too, more interesting than a lot of other chamber music series I see.
But wait, there’s more.
Supported by subscribers and volunteers as well as several supportive grants, these concerts are FREE to the general public.
Check out the schedule here.
Carl St.Clair led the orchestra in its 34th season opener Thursday in music by Johann Strauss Jr., Richard Strauss and Johannes Brahms. Andre Watts was the guest soloist.
Despite a less-than-daring program, it was a pretty good night at the symphony.
Click here to read my review, or pick up a copy of tomorrow’s Orange County Register.
Update: In 1990, Andre Watts was one of the first big interviews I did for the Los Angeles Times. He was very gracious, and gave me a lot of his time. The writing ain’t so hot, but the quotes are good. Here it is.
My handy-dandy dashboard on this blog tells me what search terms people use to find this little slice of the web and articles here.
Today, according to the dashboard, eight readers came here by searching “gospel according to the other mary adams” … which is nice.
Four readers, on the other hand, visited by searching “stupid looking confederate reenactor.”
Arg.
Carl St.Clair and the Pacific Symphony open their season this week with the Overture to Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II. (Have they been listening to me? Rest assured, no.)
The video above is of a rehearsal of the overture, with Herr Carlos Kleiber and the Sudfunk-Sinfonieorchester. It was made in 1970. (Interestingly enough, this is the same orchestra, later known as the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, that St.Clair conducted for many years and recorded all of the Villa-Lobos symphonies with.)
People often ask what, exactly, a conductor does. Well, most of what a conductor does is accomplished in rehearsal, and this video gives a fair idea of how such things go. Note that musicians aren’t always happy when the conductor stops to talk; you can sense it here. Kleiber’s German is translated into English in the subtitles.
You don’t necessarily have to watch the whole thing, but it’s all pretty interesting. A performance of the overture starts at the c. 35 minute mark.
I’ve completed my annual exercise of choosing 10 notable classical music events in the upcoming season here in the Southland. My emphasis is on Orange County — since I write for the Orange County Register — but there are a couple of picks in L.A. and Long Beach as well.
Click here to read my overview and see my Top Ten picks
Photo: Phil McCarten/Mathew Imaging
Classical Life 