AROUND TOWN/MUSIC: L.A. Phil, Met Opera return to movie theater screens

By Robert D. Thomas

Music Critic

Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily
News

A shorter version of this
article was first published today in the above papers.

 

One of the more intriguing classical music developments of
the 21st century — live telecasts of programs to movie theaters —
resumes this month as both the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera
begin their new telecast seasons during the next fortnight and others join the
bandwagon.

 

The Met began beaming live Saturday performances into movie
theaters five years ago. The concept has been a resounding success and
continues to grow as the 11 telecasts this season will be sent to 1,600
theaters in 54 countries, with Russia, Israel, China and four other countries
and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands joining the stable this year.

 

Meanwhile, the L.A. Philharmonic will open the second season
of its “LA Phil Live” series next Sunday at 2 p.m. (local time), with Music
Director Gustavo Dudamel conducting the first of three concerts broadcast from
Walt Disney Concert Hall. The program is all-Mendelssohn: the Hebrides Overture, Symphony No. 3 (Scottish) and the Violin Concerto, with
the brilliant young Dutch violinist Janine Jansen as soloist. As was the case
last year, the telecast will include interviews with Dudamel and the soloist,
rehearsal footage and the concert itself. The other concerts in the series will
be on Saturday — not Sunday — Feb. 18, a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8
(Symphony of a Thousand) telecast
from Caracas, and a Spring 2012 date TBA — (More info on the series HERE)

 

While questions remain about the viability of orchestra
concert telecasts both in terms of the programming quality and ticket sales,
the Met telecasts have grown in sophistication and and the venture has become a
significant income stream for the Met (the number reported in one article was
$8 million for last season).

 

The Met: Live in HD
season opens Oct. 15 with a telecast of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena with Anna Netrebko in the title role joined by her
Russian colleagues, Ekaterina Gubanova as Jane Seymour and Ildar Abdrazakov as
Enrico (Henry VIII). Marco Armilato conducts this new production, which opened
the Met’s 2011-2012 season. A repeat telecast will be shown on Nov. 2.

 

The second telecast is a new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni on Oct. 29 with an “encore
performance” on Nov. 16. Mariusz Kwiecien sings the title role. Fabrio Luisi,
the Met’s newly named principal conductor, will be in the pit.

 

This was one of the productions that Music Director James
Levine was supposed to conduct before he fell in Vermont in August and
underwent emergency surgery. Luisi, who had previously been the Met’s principal
guest conductor, was promoted to principal conductor and will step in to
conduct Don Giovanni and other
productions this fall, which has caused major scheduling headaches for
organizations from Vienna and Rome to San Francisco and Los Angeles (LA Opera
Music Director James Conlon agreed to step in and conduct performances of
Verdi’s Requiem with the San Francisco Symphony next month). Click HERE for
Daniel J. Wakin’s article in the New York
Times.

  

BTW: in a change from last season, most Met telecasts will
begin at 9:55 a.m. Pacific Time. Repeat telecasts of each program are usual
shown about two weeks later.

 

Another entry into the telecast market will come on Oct. 22
(the bicentennial of Franz Liszt’s birth) at 8 p.m. (local time) when Charles
Dutoit leads the Philadelphia Orchestra in a concert that includes Chinese
pianist Lang Lang as soloist in Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. This is a tape
delay of a telecast from earlier that day and will be repeated on Oct. 24.

 

The program will also include Lang Lang segments from the
2011 iTunes Festival in London, including interviews, commentary, and musical
performances. However, the telecast will not include Shostakovich’s Symphony
No. 10, which will be performed in Philadelphia but not shown as part of the
telecast.

 

Details on all of these telecasts can be found HERE.

_______________________

 

(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved.
Portions may be quoted with attribution.

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NEWS AND LINKS: Second “LA Phil Live” season to debut Oct. 9

By Robert D. Thomas

Music Critic

Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily
News

 

The Los Angeles Philharmonic will present a second season of
its “LA Phil LIVE” movie-theater telecasts with three programs, including one
from Caracas, Venezuela. Tickets go on sale tomorrow ONLINE and at some participating
theater outlets.

 

All three concerts will be telecast at 2 p.m. (Pacific
Time). The 2011-2012 series will begin on Sun., Oct. 9, with Music Director
Gustavo Dudamel leading an all-Mendelssohn program: Hebrides Overture, Symphony No. 3 (Scottish), and the Violin Concerto, with acclaimed Dutch violinist
Janine Jansen as soloist.

 

The most intriguing offering will be a telecast of Mahler’s
Symphony No. 8 on Sat., Feb. 18 from Caracas when Dudamel will lead the
combined forces of the L.A. Phil and the Simn Bolivr Symphony Orchestra of
Venezuela, along with eight soloists and enough choristers to make the
sprawling work live up to its moniker, Symphony
of a Thousand.

 

(On Feb. 4, the Phil and SBOV will join with Southland choral
forces for a performance of this piece at the Shrine Auditorium (LINK) as part
of the LAPO’s “Mahler Project,” which will see Dudamel conducting all nine
completed Mahler symphonies plus other works using both orchestras.)

 

The third telecast is simply listed as “Spring 2012” with
details TBA. If it is going have Dudamel conducting at Walt Disney Concert Hall
on a Sunday afternoon, the options would appear to be the scheduled
presentation of Mozart’s Don Giovanni on
May 20, a Grieg/Tchaikovsky/Sibelius
concert on May 27 (with as yet-unnamed soloist in the Tchaikovsky Violin
Concerto), or John Adams’ new oratorio, The
Gospel According to the Other Mary,
on June 3. This is one time to take
seriously the disclaimer that artists and programs are subject to change.

 

As was the case last year, the telecasts will feature
interviews with Dudamel, soloists and other “backstage” features. Hosts for
each program will be announced in the future. The programs are broadcast in
high definition with 5.1 digital surround sound; the two I attended last year
were quite compelling and certainly offer a cost-effective way to experience the
Phil in concert.

 

Although the Phil termed the inaugural season of this
pioneering venture a success, no details on attendance or income were offered
(in a Los Angeles Times article, LAPO
President Deborah Borda was quoted as saying that the contractual agreement
with NCM Fathom — one of the Phil’s partners in the project — prohibited
disclosing ticket sales).

 

The media release indicated 430 theater outlets in the U.S.
for the upcoming season, down slightly from last season’s reported number of
450 (a list of theaters by city is HERE).

 

At this point there are 415 U.S. outlets listed on Fathom’s
Web site for the Mendelssohn telecast but theaters tend to be added as the date
nears. There are only 256 theaters currently listed for the Mahler telecast, but
a spokesperson for NCM Fathom said that it’s too early for some theaters to
commit for a February date and many more would undoubtedly climb on board as
the date approaches. She also said that NCM Fathom’s suggested ticket prices
are the same as the first season, although individual theater outlets can
adjust those as they wish.

 

View the “LA Phil LIVE” Web site HERE.

_______________________

 

(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved.
Portions may be quoted with attribution.

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