Category Archives: A Little Night Music

Waiving Rules, Ruling Waves A mighty man is he, this Nicholas McGegan. You might not think so at first; he’s a fellow slight of build, and he has a way of approaching the Hollywood Bowl podium a little like a … Continue reading →

Ninth, but Not to the Nth Something, I am sorry to inform you, stood between me and the paroxysms of delight with which the other 12-or-so thousand happy spectators greeted the efforts of Michael Tilson Thomas of San Francisco in … Continue reading →

Firm Foundation The Philharmonic hires well. Last week’s classical concerts at the Hollywood Bowl were entrusted to the orchestra’s second-tier leaders, assistant conductor Joana Carneiro and associate Alexander Mickelthwate. They represent an orchestra’s crucial support system, the young conductors, recently … Continue reading →

Missing the Moonlight Maurice Ravel composed his Piano Concerto as a handshake to the American audiences who awaited his first tour of this country. His first movement teems with his new love of the American vernacular; the jazz licks are … Continue reading →

Hope Remains The grandiose pillared portico of Munich’s National Theater – built in 1825, gutted by our boys in 1943, reopened in 1963 – bespeaks a city that honors and is honored by its opera. Tristan and Die Meistersinger had … Continue reading →

Composers What can a composer say about his or her music that the music itself cannot say better? The question is voluminously argued, with results that fill libraries. Lately they’ve been filling DVDs as well, with results of varying quality. … Continue reading →

Déjà Vu All Over Again: Plácido Domingo zoomed out from the wings at the Hollywood Bowl on opening night, encased in Kristin Chenoweth as wraparound, and I was suddenly overpowered by memory. On October 23, 1966, at the New York … Continue reading →

Swan Songs And still they come. There’s no way of knowing where the latest classical disc releases may be had – something-or-other dot-com seems to be the easiest manner of acquisition – but some producers continue to behave as if … Continue reading →

The Fateful Tick Only György Ligeti could have dreamed it up. And while his Poème Symphonique actually had had its premiere several decades ago (in 1962) and many thousand miles away (in the Netherlands), it proved exactly the right curtain … Continue reading →

Flat Tortilla The opera company that rose to distinction with Don Carlo, Poppea and Mahagonny during its excellent season lurched toward triviality at season’s end, first with last month’s overproduced, overstuffed Merry Widow and now with Luisa Fernanda. In a … Continue reading →