Zubin Mehta Returns to L.A. Phil with Brahms and a Historic ‘Gurrelieder’
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This month, Zubin Mehta, the L.A. Phil’s beloved Music Director Emeritus, returned to conduct a pair of concerts.
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Hollywood Bowl 2024, a Satisfying Mozart and Beethoven week
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The sound system has been tweaked and improved for classical music. Gone are the crude amplification and ‘spotlighting’ of instruments, particularly the winds and brass.
Read MoreWagner, Brahms and sad decline of classical audience
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In an unusually stimulating pre-concert talk, Russell Steinberg drew a parallel between Wagner and Brahms...
Read MoreTwo Weeks with Zubin Mehta, a Fantastique Mahler and Berlioz
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In March, Zubin Mehta returned to L.A. to conduct Mahler Third and Symphonie fantastique. Joining him were German contralto Gerhild Romberger, Puerto Rican soprano Sophia Burgos and boy soprano Sebastian Dolinar…
Read MoreAt LA Phil, White-Hot Bruch and Brahms in Rain and Snow Week
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Tonight’s Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma…held her violin (the “Mlynarski” Stradivarius, 1718) the same way as Anne-Sophie Mutter, upon her bare shoulder, above her black-laced teal strapless gown.
Read MoreNutcracker, a Holiday Favorite with a Swinging Twist
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Over a span of two days (December 17-18), the LA Phil demonstrated its astonishing virtuosity and versatility by playing a dark tragic opera and a lighthearted ballet back to back.
Read MoreReturn of Dudamel’s Unsinkable Mahler Titanic First
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Spanish violinist María Dueñas played like a force of nature and with a winning smile, even after she broke the strings on her Strad…
Read MoreBeethoven Ninth and Utopian Brotherhood at the Bowl
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Samy Moussa’s Elysium (U.S. premiere) made a fitting companion piece to the mighty Beethoven Ninth, echoing these words from the chorale finale “Elysium… [where] all men shall become brothers”.
Read MoreFlight of Valkyries at the Bowl, in Spacesuits
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Yuval Sharon’s electronic “décor” is probably closer to Wagner’s scenic directions than that of many a contemporary (or traditional) production.
Read MoreSomber Elgar and Tchaikovsky Program Offers Solace, Optimism
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With the war in Ukraine still raging unabated into the second week...this week’s somber LA Phil program is a reflection of the world at large.
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