The big news out of Los Angeles this morning is that Gustavo Dudamel, the 26-year-old Venezuelan wunderkind, will replace Esa-Pekka Salonen when he leaves the LA Phil at the end of his term in 2009. Salonen plans to spend more of his time composing.
Read moreThe International Society of Bassists wanted a new concerto for their favorite instrument, and they wanted orchestras to play the work rather than merely filing its name in the list of new works that they might think about some future year. With help of their members they formed a consortium of 15 orchestras to back the work, enabling each participating orchestra to list themselves as a co-commissioner, giving each a “premiere” (even if merely a local one) at a bargain price. John Harbison was commissioned to write the concerto, and yesterday the Los Angeles Philharmonic performed his “Concerto for Bass Viol
Read moreLast night’s Green Umbrella concert of new music was the first concert in Los Angeles solely comprising Australian music, and it was a real success. As the second part of the Phil’s recognition of Dean as composer, he was given freedom to select the program and his own role. So we saw Brett Dean as composer, as performer on viola, as conductor, as commentator, as programmer, and — in all of these — as effective communicator. This was an evening that deserved to be recorded and made available for download so that more than the thousand in Disney Hall last
Read moreSix years ago, Sequenza21 published an interesting interview with Brett Dean. The violist who was once the youngest member of the Berlin Philharmonic was beginning to be recognized as a composer. This was about the time he made his first appearance with members of the LA Philharmonic in a “Green Umbrella” concert of new music, performing his work “Intimate Decisions” for viola. S21, typically prescient, gave a lede to the interview stating that if you hadn’t heard of Dean yet, “You will. You will.” This season Dean is the first contemporary composer to be given a spotlight by the LA Phil,
Read more“What to Wear” ended its all-too-short run yesterday. When you find out its schedule for performance in New York, get your tickets right away. Better yet, get tickets for two dates (or more), because you’ll want more than one evening. As reported and commented on last week, this is the opera with music by Michael Gordon and libretto, design, direction, and occasional voice-overs by Richard Foreman. Gordon’s music is a pleasure to hear and feel. (I wouldn’t have minded a few fewer decibels.) David Rosenboom, one of whose sidelights is being dean of the CalArts School of Music, was music director
Read more