On Thursday night, Gustavo Dudamel continued his Mahler marathon by conducting his hometown band, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (SBSOV) (formerly the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra), in a rousing, impassioned performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Mahler began writing the first two movements of his [...]

Gustavo Dudamel’s much-anticipated Mahler Project opened in grand style at Walt Disney Concert Hall this weekend.  Culture Spot LA attended the Jan. 14 concert, and clearly Gustavo and Gustav have a kinship that is special.
The Mahler Project is an international collaboration between the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela.  The [...]

The relatively young (he’s 43) Peruvian conductor of the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, returned to LA (where he was assistant and then associate conductor from 1998-2004) on Saturday, Jan. 7, to conduct an LA Phil, without many of its principals, in three works, the Hussite Overture by Dvorák, the Piano Concerto No. 2 [...]

The 2011-2012 season of the LA Philharmonic continues on Thursday, Jan. 5, with the first of four concerts featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performing the Lizst Piano Concerto No. 2 in honor of the anniversary of the composer’s 200th birthday. Also on the program are the Hussite Overture by Dvorák and the Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3, [...]

Cheers for a Happy New Year from Culture Spot LA!  Celebrate this first week of 2012 with some great music from greater LA east to west.  The LA Phil brings back Miguel Harth-Bedoya with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, the Pasadena Master Chorale joins the Los Angeles Daiku for a rousing Beethoven Ninth, and the Da Camera [...]

It was in 1991 that the famed Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), one of the oldest ensembles in the United States (it was founded in 1881; the LA Phil, by comparison, was founded in 1919) last performed in Los Angeles, and that was in the LA Phil’s then-home at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
On Dec. 10, the [...]

Teenagers listening to a teacher with utmost interest and intense concentration… teenagers following instructions with utter devotion, striving to be the best they can be… and ultimately, teenagers grinning as happily as if they were at a party, even though what they’ve been doing was, in fact, hard musical work. Elusive though such visions often [...]

Los Angeles enjoys a robust chamber music season that just keeps on giving all through the holidays.  Here are a few of the wonderful concerts around Southern California this week that Culture Spot LA recommends.
_________________________
GUILLAUME SUTRE violin
UCLA’s GUILLAUME SUTRE and pianist NEAL STULBERG are performing all of Mozart’s masterpieces for violin and piano in multiple [...]

LA Phil Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen returned to Los Angeles with Swedish composer Anders Hillborg and a triumphant saga for the ages.  Like Homer’s Ulysses, Salonen tethered himself to the mast of the LA Phil and took us on a dramatic voyage through the world of the Sirens, and with Hillborg’s help, we too heard [...]

Ah, the days after Thanksgiving are a great time to spend some quality time with family and friends, and that is just what the Los Angeles Philharmonic is doing this post-holiday weekend, giving us Angelenos a great opportunity to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime program at Walt Disney Concert Hall.  Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen returns for three [...]