This weekend, the LA Philharmonic performs Igor Stravinsky's seminal masterpiece, The Rite of Spring, with music director Gustavo Dudamel. The concerts mark the opening of the 2012-13 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall. I spoke with Dudamel as well as several members of the LA Phil about what it's like to perform The Rite. Here … Continue reading Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic on Stravinsky’s Rite
The Haiku Reviews: An Anti-Beatle, Fifty Shades of Grieg, and Ubiquity
I liked it better back when Sir Paul was writing ballads, not ballets. Ildy has sung this role almost as many times as Don has had sex. Very important! Don't listen to this at work. (Sexual harassment.) What we really need are more "classical" covers … Continue reading The Haiku Reviews: An Anti-Beatle, Fifty Shades of Grieg, and Ubiquity
Brutal Virtuosity: Grappling with Stravinsky’s Rite
“It doesn’t matter what notes you play,” I said, “as long as you play them at the right time.” It was 2004 and my violinist friend and I were driving to the first rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Neither of us had played the work before and both of us were marveling … Continue reading Brutal Virtuosity: Grappling with Stravinsky’s Rite
Sound the (Principal) Trumpet: It’s Thomas Hooten
All season long, the LA Philharmonic has been on Principal Trumpet Watch. Current principal, Donald Green, retires at the end of this Hollywood Bowl season. The LA Phil actually offered the position to Thomas Hooten, principal trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony, and probably the most highly sought after orchestral trumpeter in the world. But the … Continue reading Sound the (Principal) Trumpet: It’s Thomas Hooten
Brian Lauritzen 