Concert and opera reviews from Southern California.
The concert started off with the nationalistic Finnish tone poem Finlandia, a perennial favorite among Hi-Fi enthusiasts, here sounding spectacular in its dynamism and bold colors.
Read MorePianist Stephen Kovacevich got through Mozart's C-minor turbulence with perfect poise and poetic refinement, conveying the shades of autumn without too much melancholy. He was accompanied by Mirga’s equally sensitive conducting on the podium...
Read MoreLed by their new Italian conductor Fabio Luisi. The combination of cool Scandinavian efficiency and warm Mediterranean sunshine proved to be a winning formula.
Read MoreProkofiev’s Second Violin Concerto heard Japanese violinist Sayaka Shoji’s serenely beautiful and confident playing. Shoji’s playing was notable for its confident manner and wide expressive nuance
Read MoreFrom the famous opening ‘fate’ motif, the listener was treated to a thrilling roller-coaster ride of light and darkness, purposeful and suspenseful, lyrical and dramatic.
Read MoreMs. Grimaud showed us in the first two movements that passion and poetry could be sharply contrasting two sides of the same coin
Read MoreThe latest to visit L.A. was German/Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili, who played the Tchaikovsky d-minor Violin Concerto in a glossy, lyrical fashion that matched the shine of her flowing silver gown.
Read MoreThe international theme continued with Rita Moreno reprising her Anita in the rousing “America” dance number from the 1961 film “West Side Story” – with contributions from Storm Large, China Forbes and the fabulous Aztlán de Pueblo High School mariachi band.
Read MoreMaestro Shao-Chia Lu conducted with elegant precision, bringing out surprising Brahmsian warmth from the Taiwanese strings.
Read MoreThe impressively high standard of playing was credited to Long Yu, a Berlin-trained conductor who single-handedly built up two major orchestras in Shanghai and Beijing
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