Music review: Riccardo Muti, Chicago Symphony at Segerstrom Hall

The mighty Chicago Symphony Orchestra -– made great by Fritz Reiner and turbocharged by Georg Solti -– last visited Southern California 25 years ago this month, playing one concert in then-new Segerstrom Hall and three in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. 

Much has happened at the CSO since. The Daniel Barenboim era came and went. More than half of the personnel has changed over and it landed the much-coveted Riccardo Muti as its new music director. And with the convenient convergence of the San Francisco Symphony’s centennial and Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ 25th anniversary, the CSO was finally lured back Friday night -– this time in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.   

Yet our ears have changed too. I remember when the CSO blew through town and turned heads with its staggering precision and ability to get a big sound out of recalcitrant halls like the Chandler and old Segerstrom. Now, with the upgrade in technical standards here and elsewhere, the CSO no longer seems so startling.  And in newer Segerstrom, the still-brawny Chicago brasses worked too hard, which they didn’t have to in this space, where the adjustable setting was much too reverberant. 

There was only one concert this trip, but it was a bold one -– loaded with future-shock pieces past and present and one oldie that has dropped off the radar, Franck’s Symphony in D minor.  At 70, Muti looks exactly the same and conducts with the same vigor and expressiveness as he did in his last visits with the Philadelphia in the 1980s.

Music review: Guitar-playing Assad Brothers at Cerritos Center

Brazil’s Assad brothers -– Sérgio and Odair -– have been known for extraordinarily freewheeling programs, as Sérgio has been willing and able to transcribe and arrange just about anything for two guitars. But, at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts Wednesday night, they played what Sérgio said was their first all-Brazilian program –- thus going against type and reverting to their roots all at once. In any case, it made for a lovely evening, full of luscious melodic foliage from their homeland.

Much of what the Assads played was not too familiar to a North American audience, but virtually all of it could be immediately assimilated -– from the sentimental waltz “Eponina” and driving “Batuque” of Ernesto Nazareth to the rolling samba rhythms in the interior of Joao Pernambuco’s “Interrogando.”  On recordings, given their tightly knit blend, it’s difficult to discern who is playing what, but observed live, Odair is clearly more mellow and fluid while Sérgio has a steelier, more staccato edge.

One item that was familiar -– indeed over-familiar -– was Luiz Bonfá’s “Manhä de Carnaval,” here subjected to an elaborate arrangement by Sérgio where the tune was at times almost completely hidden underneath a jungle of counterpoint. But Sérgio needn’t apologize; his treatment made Bonfá’s standard seem fresh and challenging.

Arts on TV: Michael Feinstein; Woody Allen; Isabella Rossellini

“Project Runway All Stars” 9 and 11 p.m. Thursday, Lifetime: Puttin' on the Glitz : The designers are tasked with creating an outfit for the Broadway musical “Godspell.”

“Michael Feinstein's American Songbook” 9 p.m. Friday, KOCE: Saloon Singers: The history of nightclub entertainment.

“Michael Feinstein's American Songbook” 10 p.m. Friday, KOCE: A New Step Every Day: Jazz takes off during the 1920s and 1930s; the impact of talking pictures; radio.

“BET Honors 2012” 8 p.m. Saturday, BET: At the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., Maya Angelou, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Spike Lee, the Tuskegee Airmen, Beverly Kearney receive honors for contributions to their respective fields; host Gabrielle Union.

“Woody Allen: American Masters” 9 p.m. Saturday, KOCE: Woody Allen's childhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., his creative process, and his career as director and writer. (Part 1 of 2)

“Woody Allen: American Masters” 11 p.m. Saturday, KOCE: Woody Allen's childhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., his creative process, and his career as director and writer. (Part 2 of 2)

“Isabella Rossellini: My Wild Life” 11:15 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday, Sundance: Profile of the artist.

“NFL Super Bowl Gospel Celebration” 2 p.m. Sunday, Fox: The Super Bowl Gospel Choir performs. With appearances by Jennifer Hudson, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Underwood, Stevie Wonder, Bono, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Lionel Richie, CeCe Winans and Kirk Franklin; hosts Nick Cannon and Kurt Warner.

“Vine Talk” 6:30 p.m. Sunday, KLCS: Sipping Sancerres from the Loire Valley: Author Gay Talese; actor Cheyenne Jackson; chef Joey Campanaro.

“Independent Lens” 11 p.m. Sunday, KOCE: More than a Month: A filmmaker creates a satirical cross-country campaign to end Black History Month.

Movie: “Amadeus”  (1984) 9 p.m. Monday, TCM: (PG) F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce. Antonio Salieri, court composer in Vienna, confesses in old age to his sins against the young genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

“Chihuly Fire & Light” 8 p.m. Tuesday, KLCS: The De Young exhibit has 11 galleries of new and archived works by glass artist Dale Chihuly.

“The 5 Browns in Concert” 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, KVCR: Five siblings, all trained pianists, perform standards, classical and jazz.

Movie: “Brooklyn Boheme” (2011) 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Showtime: Historian Nelson George paints a portrait of the black arts movement that exploded in Fort Greene from the mid-1980s through the '90s.

-- Compiled by Ed Stockly

Photo: Tom Hulce as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in "Amadeus." Credit: Phil Bray / Orion Pictures.

Music review: Los Angeles Master Chorale at Disney Concert Hall

Now and then, you may hear a Bruckner symphony at Walt Disney Concert Hall, but did any of Bruckner’s big choral works ever receive a performance there?  The answer is: Not until Sunday night, when Grant Gershon and the Los Angeles Master Chorale took on Bruckner’s somewhat peculiar Mass No. 2 in E minor.

And what kind of a sensibility would program a Bruckner mass alongside a piece by Stravinsky?  An iconoclastic one, yes, but also a practical one, since both the Bruckner mass and to a large extent Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms” are powered and colored by wind and brass ensembles.

While Bruckner’s First and Third Masses bear the distinct signatures of the symphonies all over the place, you have to listen hard to find streaks of his sound in the Second Mass, with its backing by a small wind band and throwbacks to the choral styles of the Renaissance. 

The piece sounds as if it was tailored to the acoustics of a cathedral; some of the wind timbres even seem to imitate certain stops on a pipe organ.  A cathedral Disney Hall is not, yet Gershon’s fast tempos were appropriate for this less-reverberant space, as was the Master Chorale’s fresh, bright, plush, not-at-all-ascetic singing.

The Master Chorale is no stranger to “Symphony of Psalms” -– this was the piece the chorale memorably sang at Esa-Pekka Salonen’s farewell concert here in 2009 -– and Gershon carried out another inventive programming scheme by prefacing Stravinsky with a brief, luminous a cappella Bruckner motet, also set to a psalm text, “Os justi.”

Yet this performance (of the Stravinsky) could not quite generate the cool yet paradoxically emotional fervor of the sequence of magically heartfelt, dense chords near the close of Part 3. Gershon tried, slowing the tempo down as marked to let the passage breathe, but it didn’t work.

ALSO:

Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Phil start things in Caracas

Opera review: Placido Domingo in L.A. Opera's 'Simon Boccanegra'

Grammy Awards 2012: Gustavo Dudamel, L.A. Philharmonic win

-– Richard S. Ginell

2010 photo of Grant Gershon and the Master Chorale. Credit: Lee Salem Photography

 

Grammy-nominated Pilobolus gets ready for the big night [Video]

As the leadership team of Pilobolus Dance Theater readies itself to fly to Los Angeles for Sunday’s Grammy Awards -– the group is nominated for best short form music video for “All Is Not Lost” –- the dance troupe’s co-executive director Lily Binns is feeling “really, really nervous” (“we’re up against Adele!”) and quite celebratory about the way the troupe is expanding its artistic reach.

This is not the company’s first foray into music videos. Rather incongruously, Pilobolus dancers appeared as background elements in Marilyn Manson’s 1999 “The Beautiful People” video.

But this Grammy nod, shared with OK Go’s frontman Damian Kulash Jr. and his videographer/choreographer sister Trish Sie, was based on “truly a full collaboration for us,” Binns says. “We share a similiar sensibility with OK Go and Trish Sie,” she explains. “We all like making the impossible look possible.”

For “All Is Not Lost,” Pilobolus and OK Go set up shop for five days in a small town hall near the dance troupe’s Connecticut base (“the Woodbury Town Hall didn’t know what hit it,” she says) and shot the dancers and musicians from beneath a large glass platform atop which they undertake vintage Pilobolus contortions and organize their bare standing feet to spell out Roman letters and Japanese Katakana syllabary.

YouTube users vote on Pittsburgh Symphony soloist

Justin Bieber got his big break on YouTube, so why not a cellist?

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is calling for instrumental soloists — piano, violin, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet or harp — to upload videos for the public to watch and rate on YouTube, with the top four contestants earning an audition with musical director/conductor Manfred Honeck.

The contest starts Thursday and with some input from orchestra musicians, users can vote for their favorite player through April 30. The winner (if there is one — Honeck reserves the right to veto all contenders) gets $10,000 and will perform with the orchestra come fall.

This isn’t the first time an orchestra has reached out to patrons (and perhaps younger audiences) via social media. The Pacific Symphony recently encouraged spectators to tweet during an outdoor show and a Berlin theater last month premiered "Effi Briest” live on Facebook with users playing peripheral parts.

It remains to be seen if this “American Idol”-style voting will yield a new orchestra addition, but at the very least, we’re anticipating a good outtake reel.

ALSO:

Los Angeles Dance Festival to debut in a busy April

The undiscovered street photography of Vivian Maier

Art review: "In Wonderland: The Adventures of Surrealist Women Artists" at LACMA

--Jamie Wetherbe

Above: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra music director Manfred Honeck talks about the audition contest for soloists they will be holding on YouTube at Heinz Hall before a rehearsal.  Credit: Keith Srakocic/AP

Moby is leaking L.A.'s secrets on his new architecture blog

The techno-musician Moby, an official Los Angeles resident since December 2010, is giving away our best secrets via his new architecture blog. We Angelenos are going to have to teach him why this is strictly against code. More on that in a moment, but first some background.

Once the consummate New Yorker who owned a vegetarian tea house on the Lower East Side, Moby purchased the Wolf's Lair, a broken-down castle in the Hollywood Hills for just shy of $4 million in 2010. Apparently, his newfound sobriety and sudden realization that New York is crazy-expensive prompted the move.

Welcome, Moby. We're glad to have you, but you've got to learn to keep your mouth shut about the hidden glories of Los Angeles.

Arts on TV: 'Smash'; Michael Feinstein; making of 'The Artist'

“Smash” Midnight, Thursday Bravo; G4; Oxygen; Style; midnight Thursday/Friday USA; and 12:30 a.m., Thursday/Friday  E!; 10 p.m., Saturday NBC: A replay of the pilot episode: Successful writers Julia and Tom team up with producer Eileen to create a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe; Ivy, a seasoned chorus singer, competes with a new actress, Karen, for the starring role. 

“Michael Feinstein's American Songbook” 9 p.m., Friday KOCE: Lost and Found: An undocumented song is located; unpublished song by composer Jerry Herman.

“Michael Feinstein's American Songbook” 10 p.m., Friday KOCE: Best Band in the Land: Popular songs promote patriotism during World War II; history of big bands of the 1940s, USO shows, V-disks, and war-bond rallies.

“Movie: Brooklyn Boheme” (2011) 10:30 a.m., Saturday Showtime: Historian Nelson George paints a portrait of the black arts movement that exploded in Fort Greene from the mid-1980s through the '90s.

“Soul Mates: Dr. Maya Angelou & Common” 11 a.m. and 11 p.m., Sunday BET: Hip-hop artist Common; Angelou honored by President Obama.

“The Artist: The Making of a Hollywood Love Story” 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., Sunday NBC: The story behind the love letter to film fans.

“Land of the Dragon” 3:30 p.m., Sunday KCET: Architecture of China : Modern skyscrapers stand next to preserved buildings that are hundreds of years old. (Part 1 of 2)

 “Real Life 101” 4:30 p.m., Sunday KCAL: The Salvador Dalí museum in St. Petersburg, Fla. 

“Good Evening Ev'rybody: In Celebration of Louis Armstrong” 7 p.m., Sunday KVCR: At the 1970 Newport Jazz Festival, legendary musician Satchmo performs songs that include “What a Wonderful World” and “Hello, Dolly.”

“BET Honors 2012” 9 p.m., Monday and 10 p.m., Wednesday BET: At the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., Maya Angelou, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Spike Lee, the Tuskegee Airmen, Beverly Kearney receive honors for contributions to their respective fields; host Gabrielle Union.

“Smash”10 p.m., Monday  NBC: “Callbacks” Ivy and Karen work to please the director as they pursue their dream role; Julia and Frank struggle with the adoption process; Eileen works to finance the musical.

ALSO:

'Clybourne Park' will move from Taper to Broadway after all

L.A. Philharmonic 2012-13: John Adams, 'Wild Things,' 'Angels in America'

Should replicas of destroyed sculptures be in a museum show?

-- Compiled by Ed Stockly

Photo: Maya Angelou. Credit: Jose Luis Magana /Associated Press

Visiting Verdi at the Musicians' Rest Home he founded in Milan

Verdi’s 28 operas (or 26, if you count “I Lombardi” and its revision “Jerusalem” as one opera; likewise “Stiffelio” and “Aroldo”), plus his Requiem, are his legacy to the performing arts. Wherever there is an opera house, you can be sure that at least one Verdi opera will be on the boards in any given year -– and if a season goes by without one, wait till next year.

Yet Verdi’s own idea of what his proudest legacy would be –- he called it his favorite of all his works -– was the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, a retirement home in Milan for musicians who had reached age 65 and found themselves in dire straits. He bought the land in 1889, endowed the building himself and once his composing years were wrapping up, he spent much of his time supervising its construction.  Verdi also insisted that he and his wife Giuseppina be re-buried there –- and that happened one month after the official funeral in a state ceremony that reportedly attracted 200,000 people.

Casa di Riposo still stands today beside a busy Milan traffic circle, still active –- and one fine March day in 2000, I visited Verdi’s tomb in an enclosure within the courtyard of the home.  Inside the tomb are two slabs of metal on marble under which the remains of Signor and Signora Verdi lay, surrounded by arches, pillars and artwork.  

The small room had a lovely, long reverberation time, as deep as the ages –- and since no one was there, I thought I’d whistle a Verdi tune to test the acoustics.  Not something predictable, like “La donna è mobile” or “Sempre libera,” but rather, the tune that occurred to me was the theme from “Tutto nel mondo è burla” (“Life is the joke we make it”), the final fugue from his final opera, “Falstaff.”  It is said that late in his career, the great German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was singing “Tutto nel mondo” in concert and decided right on the spot, this would be the time to retire –- right now, going out on a high note.  

So I whistled, and the sound was absolutely fabulous, reverberating all around the tomb.

For more insight on Verdi's illustrious musical career prior to Los Angeles Opera's production of "Simon Boccanegra," here's my Arts & Books story.

-- Richard S. Ginell

Photo: Casa di Riposo per Musicisti. Credit: Franco Folini

 

Arts on TV: Michael Feinstein; Super Bowl Gospel Choir; 'Smash'

“Exploring the Arts With Gloria Greer” 6:30 p.m. Thursday KVCR: Hohmann and Imago galleries: The veteran journalist chats with local art experts in Palm Springs.

“Movie: Brooklyn Boheme” (2011) 8:30 p.m. Thursday Showtime: Historian Nelson George paints a portrait of the black arts movement that exploded in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, from the mid 1980s through the '90s.

“Michael Feinstein's American Songbook” 9 p.m. Friday KOCE: "Time Machines": (Season Premiere) Soundies; historic building where jam sessions originated; Hugh Hefner's rare footage of cabaret performer Bobby Short and singer Al Bowlly.

Movie: "My Fair Lady” (1964) 5 p.m. Saturday TCM: (G) Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison. Oscar-winning adaptation of the Broadway hit about an English professor who teaches a Cockney merchant to be a lady.

“NFL Super Bowl Gospel Celebration” noon Sunday Fox: The Super Bowl Gospel Choir performs. With special appearances by Jennifer Hudson, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Underwood, Stevie Wonder, Bono, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Lionel Richie, CeCe Winans and Kirk Franklin; hosts Nick Cannon and Kurt Warner.

“Independent Lens” 11 p.m. Sunday KOCE: "Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock": Civil rights activist Daisy Bates supports nine black students who register to attend an all-white high school in Little Rock, Ark.

“Smash” 10 p.m. Monday NBC: Pilot: (Series Premiere) Successful writers Julia and Tom team up with producer Eileen to create a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe; Ivy, a seasoned chorus singer, competes with a new actress, Karen, for the starring role.

“The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” 11:35 p.m., Monday NBC: Dwayne Johnson; Brad Pitt; a performance from Cirque Du Soleil's “Ovo.”

-- Compiled by Ed Stockly

 

Photo: Michael Feinstein. Credit Rahoul Ghose / PBS