LINKS: Two views of the L.A. Phil from the east coast

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Robert D. Thomas

Alex Ross in the New Yorker HERE and Zachary Woolfe in the New York Times HERE sing the praises of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, while hoping that LAPO President and CEO Deborah Borda’s transfer to a similar job at the New York Philharmonic will lead a revitalization of that important ensemble.

The headline on Woolfe’s article — “Los Angeles Has America’s Most Important Orchestra. Period.” encapsulates the article’s thrust. Ross’ article from a month ago includes this quote: “The L.A. Phil’s 2017–18 season, just announced, is so far ahead of that of any rival, in America or around the world, that the orchestra is mainly competing with itself.” Both articles give the LAPO a lot to live up to.

FIVE-SPOT: April 20-23, 2017

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Robert D. Thomas

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Southern California News Group

Each week about this time I list five (more or less) classical-music programs in Southern California (more or less) during the next seven days (more or less) that might be worth attending. Once again, Saturday will be a VERY busy day.

APRIL 20, 22, 23: LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC
8 p.m. April 20 and 22; 2 p.m. April 23
at Walt Disney Concert Hall; Los Angeles
David Robertson, music director of the St. Louis Symphony, returns “home” (he’s a Santa Monica native) to lead the Phil in a program that features the west coast premiere of Christopher Rouse’s Organ Concerto, with Paul Jacobs as soloist. The concerto is bookended by Charles Ives’ Three Places in New England and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (“from the New World”). The Rouse concerto, a L.A. Phil co-commission, debuted last fall in Philadelphia.

BONUS: Disney Hall is easily reachable (at least if you’re not mobility challenged) via Metro’s Red and Purple Lines. Exit at the 1st and Hill St. side of the Civic Center/Grand Park station and walk up two steep blocks to reach the hall.

Information: www.laphil.com

APRIL 21: HIGH SCHOOL CHORAL FESTIVAL
1 p.m. at Walt Disney Concert Hall; Los Angeles (see “Additional Concert” below)
1,000 high school students from 30 Southland schools can be heard in a free concert when the Los Angeles Master Chorale presents the 28th Annual High School Choir Festival. The Festival choir will be led by LAMC Artistic Director Grant Gershon in a varied program that features works by this year’s guest artist singer/composer Moira Smiley. Smiley will also teach the massive choir body percussion to accompany one of her songs.

BONUS: Free admission, first come, first served (which means it’s a great — and cost effective — opportunity to hear choral music in Disney Hall).

ADDITIONAL CONCERT: Assistant conductor Jenny Wong will lead 16 members of the Chorale in a concert at 11 a.m. This one is also free but tickets must be arranged through the Master Chorale Web Site (see below).

Disney Hall is easily reachable (at least if you’re not mobility challenged) via Metro’s Red and Purple Lines. Exit at the 1st and Hill St. side of the Civic Center/Grand Park station and walk up two steep blocks to reach the hall.

Information: www.lamasterchorale.org

APRIL 21: THE COLBURN ORCHESTRA
7 p.m. at Walt Disney Concert Hall; Los Angeles
Guest Conductor Christian Arming (music director of the Liège Royal Philharmonic) leads this top-notch conservatory orchestra in a program that features a collection of songs by Irving Berlin sung by tenor Joshua Wheeker and danced by The Colburn Dance Academy. The songs are bookended by Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide and a suite from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet.

BONUS: This concert is part of the L.A. Phil’s “Sounds About Town” series, which means that tickets are very reasonably priced ($15-$44). So, if you’ve never heard a concert in Disney Hall, this is a great opportunity.

Information: www.laphil.com

APRIL 21: “WEST SIDE STORY”
8 p.m. at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts; La Mirada
The McCoy-Rigby mounting of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, his iconic retelling of Romeo and Juliet, moves to La Mirada for an extended run that lasts through May 14.

BONUS: Nice ticket prices: $14-$70.

Information: lamirdadatheatre.com

APRIL 22 AND 23: LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
8 p.m. April 22 at Alex Theatre; Glendale
7 p.m. April 23 at Royce Hall, UCLA; Westwood
In his penultimate concert as LACO Music Director, Jeffrey Kahane leads the orchestra, soloists and members of the Los Angeles Master Chorale in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Information: www.laco.org

APRIL 22: BACH’S “GOLDBERG VARIATIONS”
3 p.m. at The Huntington Library; San Marino
Harpsichordist Paolo Bordignon will play one of Bach’s most famous keyboard works as part of Camerata Pacifica’s 27th season.

Information: www.cameratapacifica.org

APRIL 22: AMERICAN YOUTH SYMPHONY
6 p.m. at Royce Hall, UCLA; Westwood
Music Director Carlos Izcaray leads his young musicians in a performance of Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, and Korngold’s Violin Concerto, with Rachel Ostler as soloist.

BONUS: Tickets are free but should be reserved in advance (the concert is nearly sold out). The concert is followed by a ticketed gala dinner; reservations are required.

Information: aysymphony.org

APRIL 22: PUCCINI’S “TOSCA”
7:30 p.m. at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion; Los Angeles
Sondra Radvanovsky returns to L.A. to reprise her role in Puccini’s tear jerker. James Conlon conducts and John Caird oversees his original LA Opera staging. Other performances are April 27, May 2, 5 and 13 at 7:30 p.m. and April 30 and May 7 at 2 p.m.

BONUS: The Pavilion is easily reachable (at least if you’re not mobility challenged) via Metro’s Red and Purple Lines. Exit at the Temple St. side of the Civic Center/Grand Park station, walk north to Temple and then west up two steep blocks to reach the hall.

Information: www.laopera.org

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OVERNIGHT REVIEW: Back to school with the L.A. Philharmonic

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Robert D. Thomas

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Southern California News Group

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (pictured at Hollywood Bowl) conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic yesterday in a free Neighborhood Concert at Rosemead High School. (Photo by Los Angeles Times)

Since 1991 the Los Angeles Philharmonic has sponsored “Neighborhood Concerts,” free programs that range from chamber music to youth orchestras to the full L.A. Phil to what it terms “neighborhoods underrepresented in our audiences.” What that translates to is, “attending concerts in Walt Disney Concert Hall (and, to a lesser extent, Hollywood Bowl) are too expensive for many people to afford.”

Some of these events are held in churches. Some take place in areas where the Phil has a presence through its Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA). However, yesterday’s concert at Rosemead High School was somewhat of a departure since neither part of that first sentence applies. Instead, kudos to L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis, the El Monte Union High School District, the high school and the Phil for making yesterday’s event possible.

In truth, it was a massive amount of logistical work for 35 minutes or so of music, but no one in the large, exuberant crowd seemed to mind the short program. The orchestra certainly took the afternoon seriously: the dress standards were what one normally sees for a Sunday program at Disney Hall (black suits for the men, black outfits for the women), many of the orchestra’s first-chair players were onstage (including Principal Concertmaster Martin Chalifour) and the playing was first rate.

Moreover, the afternoon’s leader was the Phil’s associate conductor, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, who last year was named music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in England, a prestigious position previously held by Sir Simon Rattle and then Andris Nelsons.

The musical selections seemed a bit curious for the Rosemead audience, many whom had obviously never attended a Phil concert before. The afternoon opened with a crackling rendition of Johann Strauss Jr.’s Overture to ZZZDie Fledermaus, and continued with sparkling performances of Strauss Jr.’s ZZZOn the Beautiful Blue Danube, The Gypsy Baron Overture and ZZZPizzacata Polka.

Gražinytė-Tyla was in her element as a conductor and bubbly as she briefly introduced the music, acknowledging that it was more in tune with a New Year’s Eve program in Vienna — the school could have made hearing easier had it provided her with a microphone, although she was audible and understandable to most, even in the mezzanine where I sat.

With her flowing arms and hands and her penchant for bouncing and dancing on the podium, Gražinytė-Tyla was in her element in this dance-oriented program. She shaped phrases lovingly and played with the tempos expertly during the first five pieces. More importantly, she continues to impress with her ability to elicit top-quality music making from the Phil.

During the program’s final piece — Johann Strauss Sr.’s ZZZRadetsky March — Gražinytė-Tyla had the audience (literally) in the palm of her hand as she choreographed the beginning and cessation of clapping with gusto. It may well be that in the decades to come those in attendance will realize they were able to see this young, dynamic conductor near the beginning of what most in the business believe will be an important career.

The next Neighborhood concert is scheduled for Monday, April 24, at 7 p.m. at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 2760 West Pico Blvd. (at Mariposa) in Los Angeles, CA. Program details have yet to be announced.

Gražinytė-Tyla will be on the podium at Disney Hall on March 31, April 1 and 2 leading a program that includes Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24, K. 491, with Stephen Kovacevich as soloist; Haydn’s Symphony No. 31, “Hornsignal,” and the U.S. premiere of Georg Frederich Haas’s Concerto grosso No. 1 for 4 alphorns and orchestra, with the hornroh modern alphorn quartet as soloists. Because March 31 is a “Casual Friday” concert, the Haas work will be omitted. Information: www.laphil.com
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Five Spot: March 17-19, 2017

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Robert D. Thomas

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Southern California News Group

Each week about this time I list five (more or less) classical-music programs in Southern California (more or less) during the next seven days (more or less) that might be worth attending.

MARCH 17 AND 18: LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC
8 p.m. at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles
Guest conductor Stéphane Devène leads the Phil in the world premiere of James MacMillan’s Piano Concerto No. 3 (“The Mysteries of Light”) with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist. The program also includes music by Britten, Fauré and Debussy

BONUS: The concerto, which was written for Thibaudet, is based on the five Luminous Mysteries, the most recently added section of the Catholic practice of praying the Rosary.

Disney Hall is easily reachable (at least if you’re not mobility challenged) via the Red and Purple Lines. Exit at the 1st and Hill St. side of the Civic Center/Grand Park station and walk up two steep blocks to reach the hall.

Information: www.laphil.com

MARCH 18: PASADENA SYMPHONY
2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena
Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas McGegan leads this program of music by Schubert, Mozart and Mendelssohn. Rachel Barton Pine will be the soloist in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 (“Turkish”).

Information: www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org

MARCH 18: DURUFLÉ REQUIEM
4 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, Pasadena
Gregory Norton leads his FUMCP choir and the choir of First United Methodist Church, Glendale, in this sublime work as part of the church’s “Third at First” series. Duruflé composed a version for this 1940s work for orchestra and another for organ. This performance will feature Aaron Shows, organ, and David Garrett, cello.

BONUS: Free Admission (freewill offering).

Information: www.fumcpasadena.org

MARCH 18 AND 19: LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
8 p.m. March 18 at Alex Theatre, Glendale
7 p.m. March 19 at Royce Hall, UCLA
The world premiere of Julia Adolphe’s Shiver and Bloom (a LACO “Sound Investment Commission”), Sasha Cooke singing Handel, Mozart and Mahler, and Jon Kimura Parker playing Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 — Jeffrey Kahane leads this full, rich program.

Information: www.laco.org

MARCH 19: CALDER QUARTET
4 p.m. at The Broad Stage, Santa Monica
The Broad’s Artists-in-Residence play Beethoven’s String Quartets Nos. 1, Op. 18, No. 1 and 7, Op. 59, No. 1, and the world premiere of Christopher Cerrone’s Ponte Musmeci.

BONUS: The Cerrone piece is one of several that are being commissioned for this series, inspired by the Op. 59 quartets and themes of patronage in the past and in the present. Cerrone also has a commissioned work that will be played on Jeffrey Kahane’s final concerts as Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Music Director on May 20 and 21 (INFO)

The Broad Stage can be reached by Metro’s Expo Line. Exit at the 17th St./SMCC station and it’s about a 10-minute walk from there.

Information: www.thebroadstage.com

MARCH 19: LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERT
5 p.m. at Rosemead High School, Rosemead
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, one of the hottest conducting properties in the classical-music world at this time, leads the Phil in a concert of music by Johann Strauss Sr. and Jr.

BONUS: Free Admission. However, tickets must be reserved in advance. Call 626/350-4500.

Information: www.laphil.com
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More on Deborah Borda’s leaving the L.A. Phil

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Robert D. Thomas

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Southern California News Group

As you can see by the post ABOVE Deborah Borda (pictured left) is leaving her position as President and CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic to take a similar position with the New York Philharmonic, effective Sept. 15.

It is a move that has rocked the classical music world, but in reading the various press reports I was struck by two reasons she advanced.

First, the move means that she and her partner, Coralie Toevs, assistant general manager for development at the Metropolitan Opera, will now be able to live in the same city as opposed to being 2,500 miles apart. Second was this quote: “This is an opportunity,” she said [to L.A. Times critic Mark Swed), “that won’t come up again.”

That’s undeniably true. At age 67, Borda would not likely have the chance to return to her native New York City and take on the NYPO challenge (one that she had already tried before coming to Los Angeles). So if that floats her boat, my feeling upon reading the news was, “You go, girl!”

If the news was shocking to the music world, one presumes that it wasn’t completely unthinkable to the L.A. Phil board, at least not if that group was doing its normal due diligence. Executives leave for any number of reasons when they reach her age and, one hopes, the LAPO board has had in place some sort of succession plan. In the short term, the Phil’s management seems very strong and capable of moving forward while the board undertakes its search for Borda’s successor. Various reports indicate that planning for the orchestra’s centennial season in 2018-2019 is well underway.

Nonetheless, the news brings to an abrupt close a magnificent chapter in the Phil’s history. During Borda’s 17-year-tenure she has balanced budgets, helped increase the orchestra’s endowment from $45 million to about $276 million, led the organization as it achieved remarkable labor relations with its musicians (there hasn’t been a work stoppage in half a century), was integrally involved in the opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2003, and — in perhaps her greatest decision — gambled on a very young Gustavo Dudamel to succeed Esa-Pekka Salonen as the L.A. Phil’s music director.

Borda has also been instrumental in continuing and expanding the Phil’s emphasis on creating new music, something that has made the LAPO the envy of the classical music world. In addition, she has nurtured an extensive number of young conductors who have moved on to major roles around the world, including Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Lionel Bringuier and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. In the upcoming season, Susanna Mälki will become the Phil’s Principal Guest Conductor, a title not used for more than 20 years at the Phil.

She certainly faces major challenges with the New York Philharmonic. The current music director, Alan Gilbert, leaves after this season and his replacement, Jaap van Zweden, doesn’t officially start until the 2018-2019 season. The Phil’s current home, David Geffen Hall (aka Avery Fisher Hall) will undergo a major renovation if Borda and her new board can manage to raise somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 million.

During the reconstruction the NYPO will be homeless for at least two years, although I suspect that Board will solve this problem with her usual innovative skills — in fact, I believe this will turn out to be the capstone of her tenure in New York.

I have only met Borda a couple of times and only, then, to say hello. Nonetheless, I — like everyone who has attended a Phil concert — owes her a huge “thank you” for her work here during the past 17 years. I hope for her sake and for the NYPO’s that she will be able to prove Thomas Wolfe wrong!
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Class Act

The Southern California classical music scene with Bob Thomas

Tag Archives: Los Angeles Philharmonic

LINKS: Two views of the L.A. Phil from the east coast

FIVE-SPOT: April 20-23, 2017

OVERNIGHT REVIEW: Back to school with the L.A. Philharmonic

Five Spot: March 17-19, 2017

More on Deborah Borda’s leaving the L.A. Phil