All entries by this author

New LA Phil Season

September 26, 2011 | By Henry Schlinger | Category: Classical Music and Opera

The LA Phil begins the 2011-2012 season, the third full one under the baton of Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, on Sept. 27. And this season, like its predecessors, proves to be filled with wonderful and diverse music, soloists, and visiting conductors.
This preview covers only concerts for the 2011 part of the season. We will present [...]



Music Review: Dudamel Concludes ‘Brahms Unbound’

June 5, 2011 | By Henry Schlinger | Category: Classical Music and Opera

Gustavo Dudamel conducted the LA Philharmonic in the final installment of the Brahms Unbound series this weekend with performances of the Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102 for Violin and Cello, with French brothers Renaud and Gautier Capuçon on violin and cello respectively, and the Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98.
Unlike previous [...]



Music Review: Brahms Not Entirely Unbound at Disney Hall

May 22, 2011 | By Henry Schlinger | Category: Classical Music and Opera

On Saturday night the audience showed up at Disney Hall for the third installment of the LA Phil’s Brahms Unbound series expecting to hear Gustavo Dudamel conduct the Tragic Overture and the Second Symphony, as well as a work for percussion and orchestra called Glorious Percussion by the Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina.
The audience must have [...]



Music Review: Dudamel Unbinds Brahms

May 7, 2011 | By Henry Schlinger | Category: Classical Music and Opera

Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil opened their Brahms Unbound series this weekend with performances of the Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 and the Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68. In addition, the orchestra performed L’arbre des songes (Tree of Dreams), a violin concerto by the contemporary French composer Henri Dutilleux, with the [...]



Music Review: Bronfman’s Brahms

April 24, 2011 | By Henry Schlinger | Category: Classical Music and Opera

Works by two composers – Tchaikovsky and Brahms – who didn’t especially like each other’s music, were nevertheless performed together by the LA Phil this past weekend.
The young Slovakian conductor, Juraj Valcuha, conducted the Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13, “Winter Dreams,” by Tchaikovsky and the Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat [...]



Le Salon de Musiques

April 13, 2011 | By Henry Schlinger | Category: Classical Music and Opera

Did you ever wonder what it might have been like to be present at one of the salons where Schubert or Chopin performed in an intimate setting for a few friends and family?
Well, with Le Salon de Musiques, which concludes its first season on May 15 at 4 p.m., you have the opportunity for just [...]



Kurt Masur Debuts at Disney Hall

March 25, 2011 | By Henry Schlinger | Category: Classical Music and Opera

It’s hard to believe that 83-year-old Kurt Masur, the renowned past conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus, London Philharmonic, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestras, has never conducted in Disney Hall. So, it seems odd to talk about him making his Disney Hall debut, but that’s what he did on March 24, presenting a program of [...]



Music Review: Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic

March 24, 2011 | By Henry Schlinger | Category: Classical Music and Opera

On March 22, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by its artistic director, Yuri Temirkanov, visited Disney Hall and performed works by two Russian composers, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 by Rimsky-Korsakov and the Cello Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 107 by Shostakovich with cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and the Symphony [...]



Music Review: Dudamel’s Bruckner

March 6, 2011 | By Henry Schlinger | Category: Classical Music and Opera

Gustavo Dudamel took the stage Friday night, March 4, to conduct the LA Phil in works by Anton Webern, Toru Takemitsu, and Anton Bruckner.
Dudamel opened the concert with Webern’s Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10. These orchestral miniatures represent the epitome of Webern’s goal of atonal sparseness. Actually the term “orchestra” is a bit misleading [...]



Music Review: Mehta and the IPO

March 3, 2011 | By Henry Schlinger | Category: Classical Music and Opera

On Tuesday night, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and its music director for life, Zubin Mehta, returned to Disney Hall to perform works by Haydn and Mahler. The concert and gala celebrated the 75th anniversary season of the IPO and the 50th anniversary of Mehta’s conducting debut.
Los Angeles is the perfect place for the IPO [...]