Category Archives: soiveheard.com

COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES: Not with a whimper but a bang, the new musical year has begun gloriously. Sunday’s crowd at Disney greeted Esa-Pekka Salonen’s onstage arrival as a Second Coming (which, in fact, it nearly was, considering his two months away). … Continue reading →

BETTY: She insisted on facing death alone: no tests, no chemo, no drawn-out bedside ceremonies. Friends had lunched with her on Christmas, and made plans for future get-togethers, and then Betty Freeman retired to a hospice somewhere and died, on … Continue reading →

DIGRESSION: Finally, after an unreasonably long delay, Easy Living has turned up on DVD, buried in a massive Universal Studios “cinema classics” re-release series but shining brightly. Truly dedicated  movie buffs and professors of film history hold this film in … Continue reading →

FUTURE SHAPES: Imagine the scene,  in a rehearsal room in a building many miles oceanward from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The stage is a sloping expanse, perhaps 40 feet across, painted white with geometrical patterns. At the front sits Hagen, … Continue reading →

ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER: The crowd for the Calder Quartet program at Zipper last Friday overpowered the box-office staff, which was unfortunate and should be looked into; otherwise it was an encouraging and blessed event. A lot of it was … Continue reading →

GUSTAVO’S WEEK: On Thursday night there was the Strauss Alpen-Symphonie, an hour of orchestral banality as unbearable to the mind and the backside as anything I care to summon up. The work must appeal to Dudamel, for reasons I will … Continue reading →

THE WEEK THAT WILL BE: So here’s December, when the music lightens up for the holidays, and we get to turn off the brains for a few weeks of jingle-bells, Hah! December 4: Gustavo Dudamel leads the Philharmonic at Disney … Continue reading →

STILL AT IT: Some of you may wonder whatever happened to Martin Bernheimer or, in general, to the brand of ho-hum, above-it-all discourse he used to dispense, in the guise of music criticism, here at the L.A. Times. Rest assured, … Continue reading →

REFRESHMENT: Hearing Carl Vine’s Piano Sonata once again was a stimulating and refreshing experience. I don’t understand why this marvelous work hasn’t assumed a prominent place in the repertory. Its language is sure and strong; if Elliott Carter is prominent … Continue reading →

AFTER 2010, WHAT? “It’s been a momentous week,” noted Mark Swed in yesterday’s “Critic’s Notebook,” and he was, even so, a day early. The worst news of last week, many weeks, was Gérard Mortier’s decision to resign as head of … Continue reading →