By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily
News
This article was first
published today in the above papers.
If, as noted last week, choral music is one of the enduring
symbols of the holiday season, many people would consider Handel’s Messiah to be pinnacle of that genre,
and we’re in the midst of a Messiah
cornucopia throughout Southern California.
The most unique way of experiencing Handel’s 1742 oratorio
is by singing it, and Monday night at Disney Hall the Los Angeles Master
Chorale offers you the opportunity to do just that with its annual “Messiah
Sing-Along.” No experience necessary; just buy a ticket, show up and sing –or
you can just listen and be surrounded by sound. Bring your own score or buy one
for $10. Information: 213/972-7282;
www.lamc.org
For a complete change of pace, Nicholas McGegan will conduct
his Philharmonic Baroque and Philharmonia Chorale on Tuesday and Wednesday at 8
p.m. in Disney Hall. Presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, these concerts
will be closer to what most people would consider “authentic” performances of Messiah, although Handel heard his
famous oratorio (created in just 24 days with the assistance of librettist
Charles Jennens) performed by a wide variety of sizes and types of performing
ensembles. Information:
323/850-2000; www.laphil.com
Finally next Sunday at 7 p.m., Grant Gershon completes the Messiah Disney Hall troika when he
conducts 48 singers of his L.A. Master Chorale, soloists (from the Chorale) and
a chamber orchestra in a full-length (three hours) performance of Messiah. Information: 213/972-7282; www.lamc.org
Two other Disney Hall holiday programs are worth noting.
Chanticleer, the San Francisco-based, all-male ensemble, returns to the hall on
Thursday at 8 — a must-see for choral lovers — and organist David Higgs plays
his annual recital on the Disney Hall pipe organ, assisted by soprano Shana
Blake Hill, who has performed many times with the Pasadena Symphony. The latter
program will also include audience caroling.
If you’re absolutely fed up with holiday music (or even if
you’re not), Canadian conductor Bernard Labadie will lead the L.A. Phil on
Friday morning (11 a.m.), Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon in an
all-Mozart program that concludes with the composer’s final symphony, No. 41
“(Jupiter”). Benedetto Lupo will be the soloist in Mozart’s final piano
concerto, No. 27, K. 595. This program is right in the wheelhouse of Labadie,
who is a Baroque and Classical specialist; he is founder and music director of
Les Violons du Roy and La Chapelle de Qubec in his native province. Information: 323/850-2000;
www.laphil.com
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(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved.
Portions may be quoted with attribution.
