Author Archives: Alan Rich

Photo by Heny Fair In its several years’ existence, the Pacific Symphony’s American Composers Festival has staked out a broad and interesting territory, while expanding the very scope of its title: Aaron Copland at the movies, Antonin Dvorák in New … Continue reading →

Photo by Dewey Neild With a name like Steven Stucky, he has to be good, and so he is. Since his arrival at the Philharmonic in 1988, his official titles have included composer in residence, new-music adviser and, at present, … Continue reading →

(Photo by Betty Freeman) In the music of Osvaldo Golijov I hear a robust proclamation of joy in the creative act. It is a mere dozen years since he first flashed across the horizon with his Yiddishbuk – which, by … Continue reading →

Photo by Robert Millard Of the two composers named Strauss – unrelated, so far as anyone knows – who commanded the attention at downtown emporia in recent weeks, it was Richard who generated the louder noise and Johann Jr. who … Continue reading →

There was a time in China, Chen Yi remembers, when playing Paganini on your violin – or Mozart or Beethoven – could land you in a labor prison, with your instrument confiscated or burned. “I was about 13,” she says, … Continue reading →

In Orange County last November, a production of Madama Butterfly opened on a stageful of bustle: a consular office in old Nagasaki with secretaries at typewriters, young Japanese clerks pushing papers around, girls singing “Quanti fiori!” with nary a flower … Continue reading →

Tchaikovsky at Royce Hall, Schumann at Disney: After three weeks of Berlioz’s hectoring, perhaps it was time to ride the warhorses for a couple of nights. Last week they ran sleek and handsome. It’s easy enough, in my line of … Continue reading →

Photo courtesy of L.A. Philharmonic The sounds of Hector Berlioz and the shape of Walt Disney Concert Hall are a perfect match. It was fitting, therefore, that the Philharmonic’s three wondrous weeks celebrating this most certifiably mad of certifiably sane … Continue reading →

“This must be what the gods were like,” writes Craig Seligman about Così Fan Tutte in the latest issue of the excellently wise Threepenny Review – which, by happenstance, landed on my doorstep on the eve of Opera Pacific’s production … Continue reading →

In his sweat-drenched confessional called Bad Boy of Music, George Antheil allowed as how his discovery of the music of the future came to him in a dream. Acting upon his visions, he abandoned his comfortable Trenton, New Jersey, home, … Continue reading →