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musicaespansiva · 18 days ago

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CMS does contemporary stuff

I don't go to CMS very often -- except for the occasional 'new sounds' type program, I don't find the programs very engaging. (I deeply remember the year they did cycles by 20th century composers--Schoenberg, Ginastera, Kirchner and -- that was a GREAT season.)

But this week was an all contemporary program of pieces that were evidently in conversation with Beethoven -- whatever it was great music.

Starting off was Duo for Violin and Cello (2015) by Jessie Montgomery. In the basic simplicity and communicativity of her music I feel like she's the 21st Aaron Copland -- again, simple harmonic language that both sounds natural and easy and also particularly hers, while also making the music sound almost folksy/bluegrassy. Very good and fun.

Then surprisingly was Evgeny Kissin's Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello, Op. 6 (!). He didn't play -- I didn't know he composed -- he still looks like an overgrown kid. The music notes clearly communicate that this was his response to Ukraine, and you can see how much he hates Putin -- it's not DSCH, but it is very impassioned and direct if not that deep.

Then, we had our one vocal piece -- Brett Dean's Quartet No. 2 for Strings and Soprano, "And once I played Ophelia" (2014). This piece fails its intentions -- if you hadn't read the notes to know it was about Ophelia, you'd think it was purely abstract singing, with no actual text. But even the notes fail us, since they completely ignore that he was composing his Hamlet opera in the mid-2010's -- there's probably a relationship here, but who knows what it is.

The closest we got to actual 'conversation with Beethoven' was Jörg Widmann's String Quartet No. 8, "Study on Beethoven III". It's dense music in a good way, and at times I thought I heard wisps of Beethoven's 7th Symphony. Very interesting to keep exploring here.

Finally, we had a genuine star (to me) in the new music world -- Wu Man, pipa player, with a string quartet playing 'Concerto For String Quartet and Pipa', adapted by Tan Dun from his Ghost Opera piece (w/ largely the same forces). The theatricality of walking around and playing as you come in didn't work for me that much. (Has it ever worked for anyone other than Schnittke's 1st Symphony?) The music itself was definitely enjoyable. Though it may make more sense just to stick w/ the full piece.

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Tuesday 13 May 2025 at Alice Tully Hall, Starr Theatre, Adrienne Arsht Stage. (Where will they put another name when they need to?)

#lincoln center #chamber music society of lincoln center #Jessie montgomery #jörg widdman #Tan dun

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itwas50yearsagotoday · 2 years ago

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12/7/23: It was 50 years ago today, December 7th, 1973, Emerson, Lake & Palmer would release their fifth album Brain Salad Surgery. Of today's trio of Prog records, this one is by far the best IMO. Kind of EL&P's magnum opus (unless you count Tarkus... questionable) as the multi-part 'Karn Evil 9' stretches across both sides of the record. Honestly, if you really want to educate someone on Progressive Rock this may be one of the most representative records of the entire, sprawling genre. You have two covers right off... first, poem 'And Did Those Feet In Ancient Time' by English poet William Blake in 1806, with music added a hundred years later by Hubert Parry, known better today as 'Jerusalem'; second, you have 'Toccata' which was from piano concerto by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera (in 1961). Straight up, pretentious-ass covers of non-Rock music... and honestly they're both outstanding songs. I mean, once you hear 'Jerusalem' two or three times (at least the EL&P version) you start wailing along with Lake... it's just beautiful, and a perfect album starter. 'Toccata' is somewhat similar to 'Tank' from the first album... just blasting you with Classical music done by a Rock Trio; then you get to the bizarro pinball noises and proto-DNB sounds about five minutes in by Emerson... it's nuts, just nuts. Phew! Then you get the one Lake ballad on the record (I believe he is the only one of the three playing on it) 'Still... You Turn Me On' which didn't crack the U.S. Top 40, but was (is?) a big Classic Rock song. I don't think it's as good as 'Lucky Man' or 'From the Beginning', also Lake softer tunes on previous albums, but definitely mix-worthy. Even the goofy-ass Pete Sinfeld-penned tune 'Benny the Bouncer' is a ton of fun... again, another pattern across records, fast little ditties... little piano or keyboard ditties... like 'Jeremy Bender' and 'The Sheriff', these tunes are kind of breathers in between all the pomp and circumstance. Then we get to the big boy, the big one--'Karn Evil 9' which is divided like this: end of first side is 'Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression, part one)', then entire second side is 'Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression, part two)', and then 2nd Impression and 3rd Impression (I'm not writing that shit out again). The part that just about every good Classic Rock listener knows is the five minute '1st Impression (part two)'... this is the one that starts out "Welcome Back My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends!!" This song may very well be the most memorable thing for some EL&P casual listeners, as it has the highest Spotify-play from this album and fourth for the band overall. Unlike the songs on the first side, this is a major Prog workout... like 'Starship Trooper' by Yes... you know, long, sudden changes, musical showmanship, great melody. I do love part two, but really part one is better... it is very similar in sound to part two but it's almost twice as long. If you've read this far and you've not heard '1st Impression (part one)' then stop reading and go play the fucking song, beginning to end. I mean you can even connect both 1st impressions if you want to, but it's not necessary. The '2nd Impression' is mostly a spare piano version of the 1st Impression, along with some crazy percussion and Moog parts that, like Toccata, might be mistaken for some '90s DNB (okay, probably not, but it's still wild). '3rd Impression' is probably the worst song on the album, but it's still very good... kind of a re-hash of the first parts, but worth listening to at least once, especially the headphones experience at the very end. Wow, what a great record. I used to like Trilogy best, but maybe this album is superior after all. Overall an excellent experience. This album ain't for everyone, but every good boy that loves Prog should at least know this record, front to back, back to front. Also, a killer album cover that acted as a triptych when opened. Cool!

#Spotify

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ivisitlondon · 5 years ago

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iVisit... Barbican announces line-up details for Live from the Barbican in spring 2021

The Barbican has announced line-up details for its newly curated spring concert series as part of Live from the Barbican. The new series of concerts will be accessible for a reduced, socially distanced live audience in the Barbican Hall and online for a global digital audience through a livestream on a pay-per-view basis.

Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor returns to the Barbican Hall with a vibrant programme including works by Chopin, Ravel, Liszt and Ginastera (Sun 10 Jan)

British artist, composer & songwriter Moses Boyd performs material from his new Mercury nominated album Dark Matter (Sun 17 Jan)

Kate Stables’ band This is The Kit present their new album Off Off On (Sat 23 Jan)

British folk legend Shirley Collins returns to the Centre following the release of her latest album Heart’s Ease (Mon 15 Feb)

GoGo Penguin present material from their new self-titled album (Sun 21 Feb)

12 Ensemble are joined on stage by Anna Meredith and Jonny Greenwood, performing in their own works (Thu 25 Feb)

Barbican Associate Ensemble Academy of Ancient Music with director Richard Egarr perform Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with violinist Rachel Podger (Tue 9 Mar)

Barbican Associate Orchestra BBC Symphony Orchestra under Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo with BBC New Generation Artist, viola player Timothy Ridout in a programme inspired by Scotland (Sun 14 Mar)

A duo recital from Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason (Thu 25 Mar)

English singer, songwriter and musician Nadine Shah and band perform material from her new, critically acclaimed album Kitchen Sink (30 Mar)

A Good Friday programme, featuring Sir James MacMillan’s Stabat Mater with Barbican Associate Ensemble Britten Sinfonia and The Sixteen conducted by Harry Christophers (Fri 2 Apr)

The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), the Barbican’s Resident Orchestra, also returns to the Barbican Hall for a programme of concerts from 7 January, with artists including music director Sir Simon Rattle and guest soloists featuring Leonidas Kavakos, Mitsuko Uchida and Barbara Hannigan.

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todayclassical · 8 years ago

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March 22 in Music History

1517 Birth of Italian composer Gioseffo Zarlino. 1687 Death of composer Jean-Baptiste Lully in Paris. 1700 Birth of composer Giuseppe Sellitto.

1728 Birth of composer Giacomo Insanguine.

1752 Birth of composer Johann Georg Joseph Spangler.

1784 Mozart completes his Piano Concerto No. 16 in D, K. 451

1826 FP of Beethoven's String Quartet in Bb, Op. 130. Schuppanzigh Quartet, in Vienna 1842 Birth of German violinist Carl Rosa. 1842 Birth of composer Mykola Lysenko.

1845 FP of Auber's "La barcarolle, ou L'amour et la musique" in Paris.

1852 Birth of Czech violinist Otakar Ševčík. 1868 Birth of Scottish composer and conductor Hamish McCunn in Greenock.

1872 Birth of American composer Arthur Farwell. 1874 Birth of German bass-baritone Peter Lordmann in Köln.

1878 Birth of English soprano Ruth Vincent in Yarmouth.

1884 Birth of composer Glauco Velasquez.

1885 Birth of composer Adriano Lualdi.

1886 Birth of Austrian bass Emanuel List.

1887 Birth of Italian baritone Giacomo Rimmini in Verona. 1893 Birth of American soprano Edith Mason in St. Louis.

1905 Birth of composer Carlo Alberto Pizzini.

1908 FP of Albert Roussel's First Symphony, Poem of the Forest in Brussels. 1912 Birth of German mezzo-soprano, later, soprano Marta Modl.

1918 Birth of composer Tauno Kullerve Pylkkanen.

1920 Birth of English pianist, teacher and competition administrator Fanny Waterman.

1925 Birth of English composer and music humorist Gerard Hoffnung in Berlin. 1930 Birth of American Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim. 1937 Birth of composer Jon Hassell.

1943 Birth of American composer Joseph Schwantner in Chicago.

1945 Birth of English baritone Alan Opie in Redruth, Cornwall.

1946 Birth of Israeli-Canadian violist Rivka Golani.

1948 Birth of English Musical composer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.

1948 Birth of American tenor Vittorio Giannarrusco in Chicago.

1948 The commercially sponsored classical music radio program Voice of Firestone begins broadcasting on FM radio as well as AM. 1950 Birth of English tenor Edmund Barham in London.

1950 Birth of American soprano Mary Jane Johnson in Pampa, TX.

1963 FP of William Kraft's Concerto Grosso in San Diego, CA.

1967 Death of Italian baritone Luigi Piazza.

1970 Death of Czech conductor Herbert Weiskopf.

1973 FP of Alberto Ginastera's Piano Concerto No. 2. Hilde Somer soloist, in Indianapolis.

1979 FP of Argento's "Miss Havisham's Fire" in New York. rev. "Miss Havisham's Wedding Night" (1981).

1984 FP of John Harbison's Symphony No. 1. Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa conducting.

1985 FP of John Harbison's Twilight Music. Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center with David Jolley, horn; James Buswell, violin; and Richard Goode, piano at Alice Tully Hall.

#classicalmusic #today in music history #musichistory #todayclassical #onthisday

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mastcomm · 5 years ago

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Carnegie Hall’s New Season: Here’s What We Want to Hear

The classical music world has been changing, and some of those shifts will be felt at Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie announced Tuesday that next season would feature the Berlin Philharmonic’s first concerts at the hall under its new chief conductor, Kirill Petrenko; the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s first with its music director, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla; and the Carnegie debut of Teodor Currentzis and the orchestra he founded, MusicAeterna.

“With the orchestras, there are a huge number of firsts,” Clive Gillinson, the hall’s executive and artistic director, said in an interview.

Rhiannon Giddens, the singer, songwriter, banjo player and musical polymath, will be featured in a Perspectives series in which she will trace the connections between popular and classical songs, team up with other banjo players to explore the experience of African-American women and delve into the complicated history of minstrelsy.

Jordi Savall, the early-music specialist and viola da gamba virtuoso, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera, will also be featured in series. A festival called “Voices of Hope: Artists in Times of Oppression” will explore musical responses to injustice, and Andrew Norman will hold the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair.

Among dozens of offerings, what to hear? This is the best of the best: the performances we at The New York Times are most looking forward to.

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oct. 7-9

There are three opportunities to hear Gustavo Dudamel conduct the West Coast’s leading ensemble at Carnegie this fall, in the orchestra’s first hall appearance in 30 years. The season-opening gala on Oct. 7 features a brief John Adams fanfare, Grieg (Lang Lang playing the Piano Concerto) and more Grieg (selections from “Peer Gynt”); Oct. 9 brings Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. But in between is the most promising program, with two New York premieres: a curtain-raiser by the young composer Gabriella Smith and Andrew Norman’s Violin Concerto (with the always-fascinating Leila Josefowicz), with the gentle chaser of Ginastera’s “Estancia.” JOSHUA BARONE

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Oct. 23-24

Conducting sensation Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla and her orchestra, which is celebrating its centenary this year, give two concerts that perfectly showcase their tastes and flair for programming. One adeptly balances the familiar with the new and unusual, with Ravel’s “La Valse” and Debussy’s “La Mer” framing Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s Violin Concerto and Thomas Adès’s “Angel Symphony,” which they will premiere this spring. The other focuses on British music, with Tippett’s oratorio “A Child of Our Time” following Sheku Kanneh-Mason as the soloist in Elgar’s Cello Concerto. DAVID ALLEN

MusicAeterna, Nov. 4

One of the great stories in classical music over the past decade has been how the Greek-born, Russian-trained conductor Teodor Currentzis formed his own idiosyncratic orchestra in Siberia, garnering a Sony recording contract and triumphing around the world. Their American debut last year at the Shed was one of the major events of the cultural year, and now Currentzis and the orchestra will bring their blistering intensity to Carnegie, with Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony and the Adagio from Mahler’s Symphony No. 10. MICHAEL COOPER

American Composers Orchestra, Nov. 5

As part of Andrew Norman’s composing residency, this ensemble presents the New York premiere of “Begin,” a chamber-orchestra piece first heard in Los Angeles last year. The rest of the program is just as tantalizing, with world premieres by Ellen Reid, Jane Meenaghan and George Lewis. SETH COLTER WALLS

Jordi Savall, Nov. 5 and 9

Four days after Mr. Savall leads his period-instrument orchestra Le Concert des Nations and vocal ensemble La Capella Reial de Catalunya in Monteverdi’s glorious Vespers in Carnegie’s main auditorium, he’ll bring those groups downstairs, to the more intimate Zankel Hall, for Monteverdi’s complete “Madrigals of War and Love,” a rare chance to hear a collection of genre-blurring pieces that altered music history. ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Lise Davidsen, Nov. 12

In the wake of feverish hype in the opera world, the Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen made her Metropolitan Opera debut this fall in Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” and, if anything, surpassed the high expectations. Her silvery voice had both thrilling power and nuanced expressivity. It will be fascinating to hear her in a recital setting; with the pianist James Baillieu, she sings works by Grieg, Mahler, Berg (“Seven Early Songs”) and Wagner (“Wesendonck Lieder”). ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Berlin Philharmonic, Nov. 18-20

When I went to Berlin last year for Kirill Petrenko’s debut concerts as the Philharmonic’s chief conductor, I was struck by the excitement he generated among its players. Now New Yorkers will be able to judge for themselves. This program, featuring the great dramatic soprano Nina Stemme singing Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene from Wagner’s “Götterdämmerung,” gives him a chance to show off his operatic chops, which he honed during a memorable run at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. (In a rarity for Carnegie, this program is played twice, on Nov. 18 and 20; on the 19th, the Philharmonic performs Webern, Mendelssohn and Brahms.) MICHAEL COOPER

Ksenija Sidorova, Feb. 3

The Carnegie lineup is full of superb voices, violinists, pianists — the meat and potatoes of classical music. So less conventional instruments pop out, like the accordion played by this Latvian virtuoso. “Revelatory,” according to my colleague James R. Oestreich, Ms. Sidorova will perform arrangements of Bach, Mozart and Tchaikovsky alongside works tailor-made for accordion by Sofia Gubaidulina, Alfred Schnittke and others. ZACHARY WOOLFE

Louisville Orchestra, Feb. 20

Go ahead and call the Louisville Orchestra a “regional” (as opposed to “major”) ensemble. That’s a meaningless distinction for the many people excited by the adventurous programs the dynamic young conductor Teddy Abrams and his excellent players have been giving. For example, the concert they will present at Carnegie will offer Andrew Norman’s “Sacred Geometry,” Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” (with dancers from Louisville Ballet) and Jim James’s song cycle “The Order of Life,” performed with its composer, a Louisville native and the leader of the rock band My Morning Jacket. ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 14

For all my worries about the direction that the Boston Symphony has taken under its music director, Andris Nelsons, there have been two pluses during his tenure so far: his Shostakovich survey (steadily being released on record to considerable acclaim) and his opera. A Shostakovich opera, then, ought to come off well, especially this composer’s best, “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.” The soprano Kristine Opolais is scheduled as Katerina, with Brandon Jovanovich as Sergey. DAVID ALLEN

Mark Padmore and Mitsuko Uchida, April 16

The tenor Mark Padmore once told me he was reminded of all the words for “rehearsal” when working with the pianist Mitsuko Uchida: “In French, ‘répétition,’ which speaks for itself; in German, ‘probe’ — proving or trying. In English, it has nothing to do with hearing. Its etymology is to till the earth in preparation for seed. Working with Mitsuko, all three of those things, those attitudes to rehearsing, are absolutely present.” Now imagine how they’ll sound in “Dichterliebe” and other Schumann works. JOSHUA BARONE

Alexandre Tharaud, April 18

This is, as always, a good season for piano recitals at Carnegie, with Vikingur Olafsson, Daniil Trifonov, Igor Levit and Jean-Yves Thibaudet all making solo appearances worthy of anticipation. But Mr. Tharaud’s program is particularly intriguing. It bridges the gap between the French Baroque — Couperin, Rameau and the more obscure composers Jean-Henri d’Anglebert and Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer — and the French early 20th century, with works by Ravel and Reynaldo Hahn that will benefit from this artist’s sensual grace. ZACHARY WOOLFE

Met Orchestra, June 10

It’s been many years since the great mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier last sang at Carnegie, which makes her return with this superb ensemble — freed from its Lincoln Center pit after the opera season ends — a true event. Wagner’s lush “Wesendonck Lieder” is on the agenda, conducted by Semyon Bychkov, who fills out the evening leading Shostakovich’s “Leningrad” Symphony. ZACHARY WOOLFE

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hollywoodjuliorivas · 8 years ago

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L.A.’s singular voice Plácido Domingo built an opera town 50 years in the making, and he’s not done yet “I HAVE the enthusiasm. I have the passion,” says Los Angeles Opera General Director Plácido Domingo of the busy schedule he keeps 60 years into his career. (Gary Friedman Los Angeles Times) By Mark Swed music critic >>> Plácido Domingo clearly has a pretty good memory. He’s sung 148 roles — mostly tenor throughout his 60-year career, although now at 76, he’s an active baritone — a record that has no chance of being broken in the foreseeable future, if ever. He’s conducted numerous more operas. He’s been responsible for presenting and also commissioning a bunch more works as an opera administrator. He’s accomplished impossibly too much and is far too busy to possibly remember it all. ¶ He necessarily looks ahead, not back. “I rest, I rust” is the motto he loves to repeat. ¶ Sitting in his Dorothy Chandler Pavilion office at Los Angeles Opera, the company he helped found 31 years ago and now heads, Domingo agreeably makes an effort to reflect on his past, although he can’t resist readily transitioning to the present. Friday marks the 50th anniversary of his Los Angeles debut, and L.A. Opera is throwing a gala Friday to celebrate. “It’s late of life,” Domingo cheerfully announces before allowing himself a brief indulgence in reverie. He will be 77 in January, so, he says, “it’s a must” to continue on as he still can rather than rest on a warehouse full of rusting laurels. “I have the enthusiasm. I have the passion,” he says. “I always say, when I hear, ‘the years are passing,’ I want them to pass. I don’t want them to stay.” All of a sudden a date pops out of his memory: Feb. 22, 1966. That night New York City Opera moved into the recently built State Theatre (now named for David H. Koch) at Lincoln Center. The feisty company promoted young singers, boasted low ticket prices and was dubbed the People’s Opera to distinguish it from the glitzy Metropolitan Opera. This was a big deal for New York, a big deal for American opera and, it turned out, a very big deal for Los Angeles. City Opera went daringly all out, presenting the U.S. premiere of modernist Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera’s “Don Rodrigo” in what was the most ambitious and spectacular production of the company’s 22-year history. Yet for all the news of the evening, seemingly all anyone could talk about afterward was the young, unknown tenor making his New York debut in the title role. A year later City Opera chose that production and that tenor to open the first of what would be 17 seasons for opera-starved L.A. at the Music Center. The next night, Domingo was back onstage in “La Traviata” and praised in these pages for being “manly, temperamental … and blessed with a big well-focused, well-rounded tenor.” What was Domingo’s impression of L.A. on his first trip here? He liked it, especially the weather, he says. He had a good time. He was impressed by the 3-year-old, state-of-the-1960s-art Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. But he was a young singer on the fast path to the top, ready to conquer the opera world, and L.A. couldn’t have meant that much to Domingo then. In 1967, it wasn’t the opera world. Domingo left City Opera soon afterward, but he returned to the Music Center as a guest singer in 1970 and ’72. The year in between he appeared at the Hollywood Bowl in “La Traviata” with Beverly Sills and a just-starting-out James Levine conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic. By then San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan, Vienna State Opera and Covent Garden in London were calling. In the meantime, City Opera would soon begin to lose its luster in L.A. “I had first thought that City Opera was a great solution, that it was really going to pave the way for creating an opera company in L.A.,” Domingo says. “But it didn’t happen. The Music Center didn’t want it to happen.” Nor did the L.A. Phil, which began to put on opera itself. Between 1972 and 1984, Domingo visited L.A. only for special occasions — appearing on Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show” or performing a benefit concert with Carlo Maria Giulini and the L.A Phil. But he sensed something stirring in the atmosphere. The 1984 Olympics changed everything. London’s Royal Opera headlined the Olympic Arts Festival with three operas performed in the Dorothy Chandler, including the premiere of a new production of Puccini’s “Turandot” with Domingo. The tenor and L.A. finally clicked. He appeared as a soloist in the “Ode to Joy” finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony the night before the Olympics opening ceremony in a special L.A. Phil Hollywood Bowl program. He sang for 100 disabled children at an Italian restaurant in Santa Monica. He appeared in a solo concert at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. He also got chummy with L.A. opera activists, particularly three local attorneys — Don Franzen, Peter Funsten and Bernard A. Greenberg — who were fundamental in founding what would become Music Center Opera (later to be called Los Angeles Opera). “I was always saying to them, ‘The people are hungry for opera,’ ” Domingo reminisces. “It was then, during the Olympics, that it was decided to form an opera company.” The British manager Peter Hemmings was hired as director. Domingo became an artistic advisor. Just as important, he became the face of the company. He radiated celebrity, and it would be hard to imagine such a company having been formed at the time it was and the way it was without the benefit of that. To get a sense of just the kind of local — and international — presence Domingo had become, in August 1986 the singer organized a concert, “Plácido Domingo & Friends,” at Universal Amphitheatre to raise money for the victims of a devastating earthquake in Mexico City. His friends were Frank Sinatra, John Denver, Julie Andrews and Kirk Douglas. His itinerary for the next two weeks was: Mexico City to Berlin to Salzburg to Vienna to Berlin to Madrid to Paris to New York to Barcelona to L.A. to Denver to London to Madrid to Jerusalem to Tel Aviv to New York. A month later, Music Center Opera opened with a celebrated production of Verdi’s “Otello” starring — who else? “The rest,” Domingo says with a knowing smile, “is history.” That is his perfect segue to the present. Thirty-one years later, when Domingo is not singing onstage or conducting in the pit, he’s running the show. One of his first projects, having become general director of the company in 2003, was to create the post of music director, which went to Kent Nagano and, since 2006, James Conlon. “I still have one thing to do, though,” Domingo insists. “I want to convince some of the big names to come and conduct,” three of them past and present L.A. Phil music directors. “We were lucky finally that Gustavo [Dudamel] came [for two performances of “La Boheme” last year], and we are trying to find a way for him to return. It would be great if we could bring back [Esa-Pekka] Salonen. And, of course, Zubin [Mehta].” In fact, Domingo’s to-do list is large. There is the renovation of the Chandler, something that’s been talked about for years. Domingo says he still loves the theater. “I think it works, but it will be better if we have fewer seats and improve the acoustics. And make it more beautiful. The other solution is if someone comes along and says, ‘I want to build a new theater.’ ” “But my first dream,” Domingo says, “is that by the turn of the decade we can do more productions now that we’ve balanced the budget. I’ll be happy if we can add one more. I’ll be thrilled if we can do two more. “As you know, opera is not a business, and my really big dream is that someone out of the blue gives us a huge donation. Many opera companies have had that. I would love to read in the Los Angeles Times that someone has given the company $40 million or $50 million.” Until that time comes along, Domingo has ideas for stretching the dollars that are, he quickly adds, being generously donated by the L.A. Opera board. He’s fine with sharing productions with other companies to reduce the expense. The current lavish and quirkily inventive “Nabucco,” which Domingo dominates in the title role, is a co-production with three other American companies. But Domingo is even more bullish on the use of technology in staging. Instead of bulky and expensive physical productions, he suggests projections. “Many productions today don’t mean anything,” he complains. “They might be staged in two boxes of different colors, one orange, one purple. You don’t know where you are, and audiences want to know where they are when they see ‘Aida’ [set in Egypt] or ‘Turandot’ [set in China].” More plans for growth? Domingo notes that the company hosted a citywide Wagner festival when the budget-busting “Ring Cycle” was staged seven years ago but has done no Wagner since. That is about to change, he promises. (A Wagnerian, himself, Domingo will conduct “Die Walküre” at the Bayreuth Festival this summer.) He wants more new work, and, without naming them, hints that commissions are on the way. “I feel really proud that Gustavo at the L.A. Phil and I are Hispanic or Latino,” he says while adding yet another challenge, “but I think we have to do more for the Latino community.” Domingo remains active running Operalia, the contest he founded that funnels young singers into opera companies all over the world. You might say he remains active running and leave it at that. He mentions having just gone to New York on a free day between performances at L.A. Opera to see his grandchildren. He filled another short break opening a theater complex in Guadalajara. He likes nothing better, he says, than opening theaters because of all the promise they hold. Then there is the quick trip to Prague to conduct a special performance of “Don Giovanni” to mark the 230th anniversary of the Estates Theater, where Mozart’s opera had its premiere. “I have time as long as I have life,” Domingo sums up his philosophy. “If I am in good health and if the planet exists.” Once more, Domingo refuses rest when there is a pressing challenge, and he’s off on a new tangent: the recent profusion of natural disasters. After Domingo announced that he would donate a portion of the ticket sales from a concert at San Antonio’s Alamodome to American Red Cross disaster relief, the event was postponed lest it compete with basketball in Houston that night. He’s a huge sports fan and attended the seventh game of the World Series in Dodger Stadium, yet Domingo nonetheless laments that “of course, sports wins over the arts. I was sorry because we wanted to do it very much to help Houston, Puerto Rico and Mexico.” Even so, “impossible” is not a word associated with Domingo and his storied career. Opera as it is in L.A., and particularly at the Music Center, for instance, would have seemed impossible 50 years ago. The last week alone it was possible to hear six operas — from the 17th century through this minute — on and around the campus, with a pair of Baroque operas brought by Les Arts Florissants, a pair of operas presented by the L.A. Phil (Ravel’s “L’Heure Espagnole” and the premiere of Annie Gosfield’s “War of the Worlds”), and L.A. Opera’s productions of “Nabucco” and Keeril Makan’s recent work based on the Bergman film “Persona.” In most other places, that would be called a festival. In L.A. what was once unthinkable pre-Domingo is almost becoming normal. [email protected]

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mastcomm · 5 years ago

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Carnegie Hall’s New Season: Here’s What We Want to Hear

The classical music world has been changing, and some of those shifts will be felt at Carnegie Hall.

“With the orchestras, there are a huge number of firsts,” Clive Gillinson, the hall’s executive and artistic director, said in an interview.

Among dozens of offerings, what to hear? This is the best of the best: the performances we at The New York Times are most looking forward to.

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oct. 7-9

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Oct. 23-24

MusicAeterna, Nov. 4

American Composers Orchestra, Nov. 5

Jordi Savall, Nov. 5 and 9

Lise Davidsen, Nov. 12

Berlin Philharmonic, Nov. 18-20

Ksenija Sidorova, Feb. 3

Louisville Orchestra, Feb. 20

Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 14

Mark Padmore and Mitsuko Uchida, April 16

Alexandre Tharaud, April 18

Met Orchestra, June 10

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