Category Archives: A Little Night Music

Photo courtesy Opera Pacific THE FLIMSIER THE PLOT, SO IT seems, the greater the urge to meddle. Mozart’s Abduction From the Seraglio, his first real operatic smash, plays on one of the hoariest of opera plots: maiden, captured by tyrant, … Continue reading →

At the Philharmonic these weeks there have been concertos: the old standbys (Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn) hacked at by wet-behind-the-ears virtuoso wannabes, but also new stuff for new combos: works for cello, solo and multiple, under the Green Umbrella, big pieces for … Continue reading →

Luciano Berio was to have been among us these weeks, with his new edition of Monteverdi‘s Coronation of Poppea at the Music Center and several other performances of his music in the area planned to honor his special genius. An … Continue reading →

You want to know the history of L.A.‘s music? Ask the history makers themselves, best of all the three surviving geezers who’ve been here, done that and keep it up. David Raksin, 90 last year, came to Hollywood in 1935 … Continue reading →

One thing I will not do: join the procession of prognosticators whose crystal balls have already informed them, 10 months ahead of the fact, that the music in the new Disney Hall will rank among the world‘s supreme acoustical wonders. … Continue reading →

No two works of Hector Berlioz are in any way alike; nothing from his pen resembles anyone else‘s music. Mention of Berlioz brings on images of diabolical incantations, rattling of dry bones, and opium-induced nightmares; how, then, explain the deep, … Continue reading →

Yefim Bronfman’s piano recital two weeks ago at the Music Center was everything such an event needs to be: fluff and substance, novelty and familiarity carefully compounded, played with awesome technique and admirable wisdom. As piano recitals go, it lacked … Continue reading →

“THIS PERFORMING VERSION, conceived by Marta Domingo,” reads a program note for the Los Angeles Opera’s current Tales of Hoffmann, “is based on Michael Kaye’s variorum edition of the opera.” That may be so, in Mama Domingo’s creative imagination. But … Continue reading →

I was accosted at a recent concert by a well-dressed chap of a certain age. My mission, he informed me, was to throw the weight of my words behind his campaign to convince the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s management that the … Continue reading →

It was wise local politics, if less wise music making, for the Master Chorale to deliver the first official (i.e., ticket-selling) concert at the new cathedral. It suggested the outline of a cultural enclave downtown, from the cathedral at the … Continue reading →