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In praise of critics
Whether there are sailors who sail without charts is doubtful, but there certainly are travellers who prefer to journey with no map to guide them, and readers who are contemptuous of books about books. They gain no profit, they say, by looking at things through the eyes of others. But this impromptu, uninstructed way of grasping at masterpieces in spontaneous leaps of feeling is but a poor way of learning how to enjoy them. The first surprise and flush of prompt delight is, of course, of great, perhaps the greatest, value; but a true appreciation is based on something more than feeling: it demands that we should not only enjoy, but understand our pleasure, and make it food for thought; should learn the esthetic reasons for it, and learn also all we can about the origins and environments of the monuments and masterpieces we gaze on. To understand them we must know their place in history, and their relative position among other masterpieces. And I at least find that my vision of the things I like is greatly enhanced and clarified by seeing them reflected in the luminous minds of other people. Esthetic appreciation is, luckily, a thing that can be communicated, can be learnt from others—the glow of it is a catching fire. How often an admiration spoken of by someone we admire—sometimes the mere mention of a preference—has opened for us the gate into a new world of beauty ! And certainly the debt I owe to the great interpreters of literature is far too large to allow me to join in the common abuse of critics; they have given me ears, they have given me eyes, they have taught me—and have taught all of us really—the best way of appreciating excellence, and how and where to find it. How many sights unguided travellers pass by! how many beauties readers of great works will miss, if they refuse to read the books about them!
— from On Reading Shakespeare, by Logan Pearsall Smith
Schedule
Starting today, over the next seven days, I will be reviewing five concerts in four different halls in L.A. and Orange Counties.
It’s not a schedule I would ask for, but all of the concerts are unmissable in my estimation as a critic asked to cover significant happenings on my beat. It is also doable, with a bit of advanced planning.
I have logged all of the reviews on my newspaper’s budget, so my editor knows they are coming and will presumably carve out space for them in the print edition. I have made photo assignments for them as well, and procured photos for the others that a photographer will not attend. I have arranged for tickets. I have done a certain amount of homework — listening and reading — as necessary, and will probably do a little more as the week progresses, perhaps by listening to some pieces in the car. I have invited guests to the concerts (I get two tickets), but haven’t had a whole lot of success. Folks have other plans, even if they’d like to go.
As I get on in years, I find driving to concerts more and more onerous. I don’t quite know why, but I stress (a bit) over it. Probably, it’s the unpredictable nature of traffic in Southern California. I leave hours ahead of time to get to concerts in L.A., and sometimes even in Orange County (where I live). I plan to leave at least two hours before the concert tonight in Fullerton because there’s a miles-long jam of cars during rush hour every night on the road between my house and there. In fact, I plan to go around it, the long way, on a toll road. I procured the cash this morning to do so.
The slight stress I feel might also be because of the age of my car, which hails from the last century and is well past 150,000 miles on the odometer. It runs well, though, and my crack mechanics have given it the all clear. I also have AAA if I get stranded, and it would not be the end of the world, of course, if I missed a concert due to a breakdown. My editors could always find a way to fill the space left deserted by my sparkling prose.
I gave my car a good wash this morning (my chauffeur has the day off). All is set. I hope the concerts will be worth the trouble and that the muse arrives at the appointed times the following mornings when I write.
Upcoming concerts
Irish Chamber Orchestra
Beloved flutist James Galway and conductor JoAnn Falletta join the Irish Chamber Orchestra, founded in 1963, on a tour of the U.S. that makes a stop in Orange County. Galway steps to the fore with Mozart’s Flute Concerto, K. 314, and Philip Hammond’s “Carolan Variations” (in which he is joined by his wife, flutist Jeanne Galway). Falletta and the orchestra offer performances of Harty’s tone poem “In Ireland” and Mozart’s Olympian “Jupiter” Symphony as bookends. 8 p.m. Monday. Tickets are $35-$250. Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. 949-553-2422 or philharmonicsociety.org
Frederica von Stade
Legendary mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, 68 and now mostly retired from the operatic stage, stops by Cal State Fullerton to perform a recital of songs and arias, both old and new. American composers, including Ned Rorem, Jake Heggie, Virgil Thomson, William Bolcom and Steven Sondheim, are well represented in her program. She’ll also offer tunes by Puccini, Ravel, Poulenc and others. 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $20-$25. Meng Concert Hall, Cal State Fullerton. 657-278-3371 or fullerton.edu/arts
Pacifica/Hamelin
The Pacifica Quartet and pianist Marc-André Hamelin join forces to open Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ chamber music season. Their program promises the rare opportunity to hear American avant-garde composer Leo Ornstein’s Piano Quintet from 1927. Also on the agenda: Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 7 (a Pacifica specialty) and Dvorák’s masterful and folksy Piano Quintet. 8 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are $29-$69. Samueli Theater, Segerstrom Center for the Arts. 714-556-2787 or scfta.org
Long Beach Symphony
After a quirky opener, Enrique Arturo Diemecke and the Long Beach Symphony continue their season with a two-part meat-and-potatoes program. Longtime concertmaster Roger Wilkie steps into the spotlight to open the concert with Sibelius’ majestic Violin Concerto; Diemecke closes it with the pained strains of Tchaikovsky’s swan song, the Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique.” 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $20-$85. Terrace Theater, Long Beach Performing Arts Center. 562-436-3636 or lbso.org
‘Falstaff’
As part of the well celebrated 200th anniversary of Verdi’s birth, Los Angeles Opera revives “Falstaff,” the composer’s final operatic work and a comic masterpiece. The cast includes Italian baritone Roberto Frontali in the title role, Carmen Giannattasio as Alice Ford, Marco Caria as Ford and Juan Francesco Gatell as Fenton. James Conlon conducts the production, which is new to the company. 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Also, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Nov. 16 and 21; 2 p.m. Nov. 24 and Dec. 1. (The company also presents a concert version at Segerstrom Concert Hall on Nov. 26.) Tickets are $21-$311. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. 213-972-8001 or laopera.org
Review: New recordings from Denk, Dudamel and Thile
In today’s Orange County Register online, I review new recordings by the above of music by Bach and Richard Strauss. The link is free, no pay wall.
Esa-Pekka’s eats
We already know his spirit of choice. Now, here’s an account of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s eating habits, penned by himself. Also, he confirms rumors we’ve heard — he’s looking for a house in L.A.
Pierre Monteux conducts ‘La Marseillaise’
This is from a rehearsal with the London Symphony Orchestra, c. 1962. Still, the musicians manage to generate some heat. You’ll hear Monteux tell the orchestra “Thank you very much” at the end.
Carlo Maria Giulini conducts ‘The Three-Cornered Hat’
An excerpt, with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Review: Pacific Symphony revives Bolcom’s ‘Canciones de Lorca’
St.Clair and the orchestra also perform music by Falla and Rodrigo. Guitarist Xuefei Yang is soloist.
Click here to read my review. Orange County Register, Oct. 25, 2013.
Upcoming concerts
Estonian National Symphony
The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, that country’s leading orchestra and well known in the West for its recordings of Arvo Pärt, drops by Soka University as part of a U.S. tour. The venerable Neeme Järvi is on the podium to lead music by Pärt (the “Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten”), Dvorák (the Cello Concerto, with Narek Hakhnazaryan) and Sibelius (the majestic Symphony No. 5). 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $48-$58. Soka Performing Arts Center, Aliso Viejo. 949-480-4278 or performingarts.soka.edu
Perlman conducts
Still among the world’s most popular violinists, Itzhak Perlman has added conducting to his resumé in recent years. With violin and baton in hand, he visits the Los Angeles Philharmonic this week to lead performances of the “Summer” and “Winter” concertos from Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” (in which he also plays the solo part), Weber’s Overture to “Oberon” and Berlioz’s roof-raising “Symphonie Fantastique.” 11 a.m. Friday; 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $24-$191. Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles. 323-850-2000 or laphil.com
South Coast Symphony
The pops-oriented South Coast Symphony, self-billed as Orange County’s “unstuffy symphony,” opens its season with a light but bona fide classical program featuring “the 3 Gs.” The program includes Glazunov’s “Autumn” from “The Seasons,” Gershwin’s Symphonic Selections from “Porgy and Bess” and Ferde Grofé’s beloved “Grand Canyon Suite.” 7:30 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $15-$40. Crossline Community Church, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills. 714-731-8079 or southcoastsymphony.org
Pasadena Symphony
The Pasadena Symphony launches the season with its new music director, British conductor David Lockington. The program tests everyone’s mettle: It opens with Shostakovich’s blistering “Festive Overture,” continues with Leonard Bernstein’s “Serenade” (based on Plato’s “Symposium” and featuring violinist Anne Akiko Meyers as soloist) and ends with Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.” 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $35-$105. Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena. 626-793-7172 or pasadenasymphony-pops.org
Verdi’s Requiem
Conductor John Alexander and the Pacific Chorale, entering their 42nd season together and never singing better, open their schedule with the big operatic bang of Verdi’s Requiem in celebration of the composer’s 200th birthday. Soprano Amber Wagner, mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby, tenor James Valenti and bass Eric Halfvarson are the soloists. The Pacific Symphony joins in the thundering and somber masterpiece. 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $29-$129. Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. 714-662-2345 or pacificchorale.org
photo credit: Simon van Boxtel
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