Author Archives: Alan Rich

Melvyn Tan’s playing epitomizes quite a lot of what’s right, and what’s wrong, about this whole authentic-performance hangup. Tan, who specializes in playing old pianos (across the historical spectrum from the forte-piano of Mozart’s time to the piano-forte of later … Continue reading →

There was nothing all that remarkable about this weekend’s Los Angeles Philharmonic program (repeated this afternoon at 2:30). But excellent orchestral performance is always a remarkable event, and this week’s entry in the orchestra’s subscription series at the Music Center, … Continue reading →

No composer, of this or any other era, enjoyed a longer, or more beneficial love affair with history’s muse than did Igor Stravinsky. As long ago as 1928, long before recording technology had advanced to where it could cope with … Continue reading →

One message the Music Center Opera’s “Don Giovanni” made abundantly clear atits opening last Monday night: babies do not come from storks. From Giovanni’s first entrance, fresh from his aborted attack on Donna Anna’s virtue, still buttoning up his trousers … Continue reading →

There being little of musical consequence hereabouts for most of the past week, it seemed like a good time to seek refreshment at the source. Word was out that the Eastman School of Music, that singular adornment of Rochester, NY, … Continue reading →

N.B.: NEW HED THE CLASSICAL COLUMNFairness demanded a second visit to the Music Center Opera’s “Madama Butterfly” to check out the new tenor, Jorge Antonio Pita, who has replaced Placido Domingo in the role of Lieut. B. F. Pinkerton in … Continue reading →

The curtain at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion came down at 11:28 on Saturday night, five hours (minus a couple of minutes) after the start of the Music Center Opera’s production of Berlioz’ “The Trojans.” There were cheers, a few boos, … Continue reading →

Hail, this land of no seasons, where you can go to indoor grand opera one night and the Hollywood Bowl the next. These two cultural manifestations overlapped by one day this year; the Bowl went out with a bang — … Continue reading →

The opera season began on Thursday night with all the fixings: gala crowd, sold-out house, Placido Domingo to sing, high-society supper afterwards. Musically, too, the news wasn’t all bad. It wasn’t all good, either. This was the Music Center Opera’s … Continue reading →

Record collectors have known the name of Switzerland’s Peter Maag for several decades. In the early days of the long-playing record his Mozart performances, with various European orchestras, were regarded as beacons of clarity and strength. Something must have happened, … Continue reading →