On the flight to London last week, Air New Zealand had loaded up a bunch of James Bond movies on the monitors in our seats. An appropriate gesture, I think, to get us in the mood for our final destination. Naturally, I got sucked in. I watched 007 besting bad guys all the way from … Continue reading Peter Sellars on the Threat of Cultural Impositionalism
Postcard from London: The Gospel Truth
Last year, at the world premiere of John Adams' passion-oratorio "The Gospel According to the Other Mary," I wrote an extensive review. At the time, I said I was "less interested" in seeing how Peter Sellars would stage the work in the future, than I was simply excited to hear the music again. Turns out, … Continue reading Postcard from London: The Gospel Truth
Postcard from London: The Music of the Future
On KUSC today, you'll hear me mention an ensemble called Future Band. Future Band is a group of a couple dozen musicians, ages 8-14, from all over London. The ensemble has no set instrumentation, the members write their own music, and it is open to just about anyone. Future Band meets during school vacation periods … Continue reading Postcard from London: The Music of the Future
LA Phil 2013-14: By the Numbers
Much has already been written about the LA Phil's new 2013-14 season, just announced yesterday at Walt Disney Concert Hall. (In my estimation, the most insightful summations come from Mr. CK Dexter Haven at All is Yar and Timothy Mangan at Classical Life.) As orchestras around the country hemorrhage audiences, money, and relevance, a few--like … Continue reading LA Phil 2013-14: By the Numbers
Christmas Music That’s Actually Good
A while back I did a thing for the KUSC blog where I picked my Top 10 Classical Christmas Picks. (Actually, it ended up being a Top 12 list, but whatever.) Here's an updated version of that post. But you won't hear any of that music blaring over the loudspeakers at your favorite shopping mall. … Continue reading Christmas Music That’s Actually Good
In Defense of John Williams
Yesterday, NPR ran this feature on All Things Considered. It is mostly an amusing little jaunt through various pieces of music written for the Olympic Games. The story hits many of the genre's highlights, including Spyridon Samaras' Olympic Hymn (1896, Athens), Josef Suk's Toward a New Life (1932, Los Angeles), Mikis Theodorakis' Canto Olympico (1992, … Continue reading In Defense of John Williams
Rock Music: LACMA-style
Like a lot of Angelenos I've been completely captivated by the journey and now the installation of Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass at LACMA. (After all, it's not every day that art weighs in at 340 tons and the installation presents an element of danger.) I guess my creation of a Levitated Mass playlist was inevitable.
You Must Hear This: A Human-Ape Hybrid & Drowning Witches
Two very different recordings came out this week that I highly recommend. I previously wrote about both of them for The Music Issue of the very cool lit-quarterly The Aviary. More of my summer music picks are posted there, as well as those of such writerly folks as Amy Gerstler, Katy Henriksen, Mathias Svalina, and … Continue reading You Must Hear This: A Human-Ape Hybrid & Drowning Witches
Beethoven is not Enough…Apparently
Growing up, when my sister and I would fight, my mother would trot out the old adage, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." So when this bizarre and inexplicable recording of the Beethoven 9th Symphony + narration landed on my desk a couple of weeks ago, my first … Continue reading Beethoven is not Enough…Apparently
A Visit to the Valley…not THAT Valley
Back from vacation with a pile of work awaiting me. Production on the 2011-2012 LA Philharmonic concert broadcast series is complete--the final broadcasts are this Sunday and next. They are great ones: Sir Simon Rattle and Magdalena Kožená performing music of Ligeti, Wagner, Mahler, and Bruckner; and Gustavo Dudamel leading a cast of about 1,400 … Continue reading A Visit to the Valley…not THAT Valley
Brian Lauritzen 