Author Archives: Alan Rich

Cellists like to complain about the paucity of concertos for their instrument. And yet they have the Dvorak, and few concertos for any instrument are as rapturously beautiful as that supremely eloquent work. Lynn Harrell was the soloist in Dvorak’s … Continue reading →

Monday night at the Japan-America Theater, and the latest running of the CalArts Contemporary Music Festival came to a festive close, with the rattle and roar of Balinese percussion blasting its way through the sounds of Western-style woodwinds and brass. … Continue reading →

[*] laby2;p1205. By Alan Rich [B] Daily News Music Writer [B]On a blessedly rainy day last week, 85 musicians gathered for a recording session in a Culver City sound studio. If the sight was familiar enough, the circumstances weren’t. It … Continue reading →

Once again we owe much to the venerable conductor, Kurt Sanderling. Whether or not his efforts with the vast, lumbering Eighth Symphony of Dimitri Shostakovich were actually worth his time with the Los Angeles Philharmonic this past weekend, he certainly … Continue reading →

Half a century ago, Los Angeles teemed with Germanic art, as refugees from Adolf Hitler’s persecution moved their creativity westward. Now, with the “Degenerate Art” show at the County Museum currently drawing crowds and a corollary “Degenerate Music” show about … Continue reading →

If these Green Umbrella concerts keep getting better, they’re in danger, one of these Monday nights, of taking off into orbit. Once again, Monday night at the Japan-America Theater, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new-music series struck gold: a triumph both … Continue reading →

Just when you thought it was unsafe to return to the Music Center Opera, along comes “Elektra,” and matters are again on the mend. The company’s new production of Richard Strauss’ one-act mix of shock and shlock, unveiled Saturday night … Continue reading →

Enduring a performance of Edward Elgar’s Second Symphony should be no problem. Bring along a good book and a soft pillow, and you’ve got it made. Most of the audience at Thursday night’s Los Angeles Philharmonic concert at the Music … Continue reading →

Here we are, a growing community of operatic connoisseurs, but starved this season for a touch from the warming hand of Giuseppe Verdi. No wonder the prospect of Opera Pacific’s “Un ballo in maschera” {cq upper & lower case} looked … Continue reading →

The name of Bright Sheng has come into circulation lately. Born in Shanghai in 1955, he came to New York in 1982, has had performances and commissions by orchestras here and abroad, is currently composer-in-residence at the Chicago Lyric Opera, … Continue reading →