Music

CARO RIGOLETTO In  Rigoletto, Verdi’s score is as delightful and charming as ever, with such memorable songs as “La donna è mobile” and “Caro nome.” Moreover, it is perfectly balanced between large ensemble scenes and more intimate duets.  Rigoletto  doesn’t drag either, nor is it overly long, but lasts a reasonably full two and a half hours, including…

THIS FESTIVAL IS ALL ABOUT PLAY, BOY OK, you’ve heard about it for years. But now you’re ready to take the plunge (and you should be) to attend the world famous Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl. These two marathon days, June 9 & 10, 2018, can seem a bit intimidating, so let me…

SCHUMANN TO WIN YOU OVER Although his life was difficult, to say the least, ending prematurely in madness, Robert Schumann nonetheless composed music that elevates us through its pure spirit and unique personal character. Last week, Gustavo Dudamel began a three-week exploration of this (I think) underappreciated composer.  Of course, Schumann  isn’t always necessarily easy, pleasant or…

LABÉQUE TO THE DRAWING BOARD Forty years since they made their U.S. debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, French sisters  Katia & Marielle Labèque returned for a program that seriously needed to rethink its programming. After the duo’s take on Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite for four hands (1908), the French pianists — led by Marielle’s husband,…

DENK FOR THE MEMORIES His academic lucidity, enchanted virtuosity and musical acumen make him one of the most exciting and accomplished pianists of our age. Now, Jeremy Denk is coming to The Wallis in Beverly Hills for a one-night only recital this Wednesday, April 25, at 7:30. This is a rare opportunity to see this…

A WONDERFUL WORLD PREMIERE BY SALONEN There’s nothing more wonderful than witnessing a world premiere and craving to hear it again immediately as an encore. Such was the experience with Esa-Pekka Salonen’s brand new 12-minute tone poem, composed this year. If the Symbolist Debussy and Modernist Salonen had a love child (Debusalonen!), it would be…

FANTASIA 2018 Coming in at a clean 68 minutes, LA Phil’s production of Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde  (Song of the Earth) was short and sweet with plenty of meat. But through Saturday night, you get far more than just an orchestral rendering, which was also a mournful offering from conductor Gutavo Dudamel to…

THE MAGICAL MONK LEFT HIS MARK Just when I thought nothing could touch  Jason Moran’s recreation  of Thelonious Monk’s 1959 Town Hall recording last November, along comes the great John Beasley with his take on the great jazz inventor. Beasley wasn’t trying to recreate Monk at Disney Hall last night; instead, he has come up with themes…

WHAT A TRIP Close on the heels of LA Phil’s behemoth production of Bernstein’s Mass comes another large-scale work with mind-boggling logistics. Co-commissioned with the London Symphony, A Trip to the Moon is Andrew Norman’s fanciful musical about a fin de siècle voyage to the Moon, whose inhabitants have trouble communicating with the Edwardian/Victorian astronomers…

HIGH SCORES FOR A CONCERT OF SCORES The logistics of putting together this terrific night, including an assemblage of Hollywood’s A-List composers and directors, must have been daunting. Indeed, so much work went into The Oscar Concert that it’s a shame it only played once. A co-production of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and…

A WELL-MATCHED TEACHER AND STUDENT One of our greatest living pianists — if not the greatest — Daniil Trifonov (dan-EEL TREE-fon-ov) came to Disney Hall for a solo recital exactly two years ago. He played a gargantuan program lasting over 160 minutes. Included were the Brahms Chaconne in D minor for the Left Hand (after…

A JUICY MCINTOSH What used to feel like the LA Phil’s token new music series seems to finally be hitting its stride. Green Umbrella is trending up thanks to a massive new commission budget and Los Angeles’s sudden role as new music tastemaker. Last Tuesday’s concert was the latest in what seems like a constant…

CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT IS PRECISELY WHAT YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR Hooray and hallelujah! Long before her newest disc, Dreams and Daggers — a live double-CD set that won the 2018 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album — I have always been a fan of jazz vocalist and song interpreter extraordinaire Cécile McLorin Salvant. But seeing…