Monthly Archives: June 1991

The opera season ended with two ringing reaffirmations of the high quality of scores some of us may have laid aside. A second visit to “La Fanciulla del West” at the Music Center turned up details in Puccini’s score I … Continue reading →

Like the story that inspired it, Benjamin Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw” holds you in its grip from beginning to end. So does the Music Center Opera’s brilliant production of the work, which had the first of four performances … Continue reading →

The scene was the Leo Baeck Temple in Brentwood, at last week’s invitational tribute to Leonard Bernstein. The veteran pianist Leo Smit came onstage to play the opening work, tried to strike a few notes, and stopped. Something in the … Continue reading →

The glory of the Ojai Music Festival surfaced once again this past weekend, as it has every year since 1947 around this time, somewhat tarnished but recognizable. No, it wasn’t the best festival ever, not as programming nor as performance. … Continue reading →

Witold Lutoslawski is in town this week, for two Los Angeles Philharmonic programs of his music. The Kronos Quartet’s program at UCLA on Saturday includes music by Alfred Schnittke. George Enesco’s opera “Oedipus” has been released on Angel-EMI, the first-ever … Continue reading →