A Selective Guide to the Arts in Los Angeles

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.

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GUILLAUME SUTRE violin

UCLA’s GUILLAUME SUTRE and pianist NEAL STULBERG are performing all of Mozart’s masterpieces for violin and piano in multiple concerts as they prepare for their European tour.  What an ambitious idea this is, and who better to pull it off?  Look for future concerts at Schoenberg Hall in 2012.

Program – Mozart à Deux: The Sonatas for Violin and Piano:

• Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, K380

• Violin Sonata in D Major, K306

• Violin Sonata in B-flat Major, K454

Saturday, Dec. 3, 7 p.m.

Sage-Granada Park United Methodist Church

Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, 1850 W. Hellman Ave., Alhambra

Suggested donation: $15 / $5 for seniors (55+) and students (with current ID).

For information and tickets, call (626) 230 5435.

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KARITA MATTILA soprano

Internationally recognized soprano Karita Mattila will sing songs of Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen, along with arias of Poulenc and Debussy.  The adjustable acoustics built into the Broad Stage design make it a splendid venue for singers.

Saturday, Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage, SMC Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica.

Tickets: $110, $85, $65.

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TAKÁCS QUARTET

The Ace Gallery Institute of Contemporary Art presents the Takács Quartet with EDWARD DUSINBERRE violin, KÁROLY SCHRANZ violin, GERALDINE WALTHER viola, and ANDRÁS FEJÉR cello.  The quartet received a Grammy and Gramophone Award for the Best Chamber Music Recording for its recording of the Beethoven quartets.

Saturday, Dec. 3, 8 p.m.

Ace Gallery Institute of Contemporary Art, 9430 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills

Admission: $60. Tickets for purchase are extremely limited. Contact the gallery at (323) 935-4411 for information on availability and purchase (unreserved general seating).

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PHILLIP LEVY violin, FRANÇOIS CHOUCHAN piano

Levy and Chouchan will preview their Dec. 11 Le Salon de Musiques program at the SUNDAYS LIVE Chamber Music Series Dec. 4.  FRANÇOIS CHOUCHAN founded the chamber music series Le Salon de Musiques held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, now in its second season.  He and PHILLIP LEVY will perform Franck’s Sonata in A Major and Mozart’s Sonata in E Minor, K304.

SUNDAYS LIVE brings Southern California chamber music concerts free to the public.  No tickets or reservations are required for the live performances, and the concerts are streamed live on the Internet. Listen by clicking https://more.lacma.org:8088/SundaysLive at concert time:

Sunday, Dec. 4, 6 p.m.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art – Leo S. Bing Theater, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. (just east of Fairfax)

Free admission. For concert and artist information, call (323) 857-6234.

Le Salon de Musiques is a unique concept in an especially Los Angeles venue.  The panoramic view of the hills from the Impresario Room of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion becomes the backdrop, and a gourmet buffet with French Champagne and conversation serves up a wonderful coda!  Culture Spot LA’s Henry Schlinger reviewed Levy at Le Salon de Musiques last season and highly recommended the series.

Sunday, Dec. 11, 4 p.m.

Impresario Room, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., LA

Tickets: $65

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ORION WEISS piano, JASON UYEYAMA violin, MADELEINE KABAT cello

La Sierra University Chamber Music Series has a great program in the Redlands area on Thursday evening.  ORION WEISS joins other Juilliard alumni, cellist MADELEINE KABAT and violinist JASON UYEYAMA, the Director of String Studies at La Sierra University.

Program

Beethoven: Piano Trio in G Major Op.121a, (Ten Variations on “Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu”)

Brahms: Sonata for Piano and Cello in E minor, Op.38

Shostakovich: Piano Trio in E minor, Op.67

Culture Spot LA reviewed Orion Weiss in an extraordinary concert last year at the Clark Library with three members of the famed French Ebene Quartet (an interesting story worth reading).

Thursday, Dec. 8, 7 p.m.

Hole Memorial Auditorium, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside

Tickets: $10 / $5 for seniors, LSU faculty, staff and students; $20 for families; children 12 and under are free.  For information, call the La Sierra University Department of Music at (951) 785-2036.

~Theodore Bell/Culture Spot LA

Culture Spot LA recommends Jim Eninger’s Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter, an extensive calendar of upcoming music events, large and small, happening all around Los Angeles.