Author Archives: Alan Rich

Old Sebastian Bach lived a lifetime without hearing a note of his “Brandenburg” Concertos. There’s no information, in fact, that anyone — in the castle of the Brandenburg nobles or anywhere else — heard these works in their own time. … Continue reading →

The roar of drums split the evening air; the brassy strains of “The Star- Spangled Banner” lit up the evening sky. At approximately 7:45 last Tuesday evening a new season at the Hollywood Bowl sprang into life. From now until … Continue reading →

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 →

The season winds down, but happily. Tuesday night’s concert at Royce Hall was, indeed, a most happy and vital occasion: challenging, joyous and rewarding. Gidon Kremer is an old friend; he has performed here as violin soloist with the Philharmonic, … Continue reading →

In its 14 years of presenting the joys of the Gilbert and Sullivan repertory in unalloyed, untampered estate, Richard Sheldon’s Opera a la Carte has racked up an impressive string of triumphant productions. It would be hard to imagine, even … Continue reading →

And so the Philharmonic season ended, not with a whimper but with several bangs. The final subscription concert, Thursday night at the Music Center, drew only a small crowd; perhaps anything would be an anticlimax after the Salonen weeks. Those … Continue reading →