Arts on TV: Julius Shulman; Billy Childs Jazz Chamber Ensemble

Movie: “Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman” (2008) 6 and 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sundance: Narrated by Dustin Hoffman. Photographer Julius Shulman helps bring architecture's Modernist movement to the forefront and collaborates with architect Richard Neutra and others on many important projects.

“SoCal Insider With Rick Reiff” 1 p.m. Thursday; 7 p.m. Friday; 11:30 a.m. Sunday, KOCE; noon Wednesday, KOCE: Opera legend Placido Domingo. 

“Exploring the Arts With Gloria Greer” 6:30 p.m. Thursday, KVCR: Jackie Autry's Private Collection.

“Open Call” 9 p.m. Thursday, KCET: Colburn School Orchestra. Hosted by mezzo-soprano opera singer Suzanna Guzman.

“Orchestra Kids 2011” 10:30 p.m. Thursday, KCET: Behind the scenes with the All Schools Elementary Honor Orchestra as it prepares for its annual concert in renowned Schoenberg Concert Hall in UCLA.

“SoCal Connected” 9 p.m. Friday; 6 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, KCET: Herbie Hancock: All That's Jazz: Correspondent Michael Okwu shares what it was like to spend time with jazz artist Herbie Hancock.

“Santa Monica On Stage” 8 p.m. Friday, City TV Channel 16, Santa Monica: Barbara Bain ("Why We Have A Body"). Writer Rex Pickett and director Amelia Mulkey ("Sideways, The Play").

“Art in the Twenty-First Century” 10 p.m. Friday, KOCE: Change: Artists Ai Weiwei, El Anatsui and Catherine Opie. (Season Premiere)

“Dudu Fisher: In Concert From Israel” 1:30 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday; 8 p.m. Wednesday, KCET: Dudu Fisher performs Broadway tunes and Israeli songs. 

“Laguna Beach Live Presents: Billy Childs Jazz Chamber Ensemble With Calder Quartet” 11 p.m. Saturday, KOCE: The Jazz Chamber Ensemble is a synthesis of jazz and classical chamber music.

“My Generation” 10 p.m. Monday, KLCS: Opera singer Denyce Graves; Cheech Marin.

“Independent Lens” 11 p.m. Sunday, KOCE: When the Drum Is Beating: Haiti's past and present is explored through the music of the country's oldest and best-known band.

“Grand Canyon Serenade” 5 a.m. Tuesday, KVCR: A visual tour of the Grand Canyon is set to classical music by Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Dvorak.

-- Compiled by Ed Stockly

Photo: Billy Childs. Credit: Javiera Estrada 

Pau Gasol says hello to Placido Domingo after Lakers beat Heat

Three Spanish talents finished up afternoon performances Sunday and then aligned backstage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

After helping the Lakers put away the Miami Heat at Staples Center, Pau Gasol headed a few miles north to catch the final act of L.A. Opera's "Simon Boccanegra," starring Plácido Domingo.

Another Spaniard happened to be in town as well and stopped by to make it a Spanish trifecta of sorts. After conducting his third concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Pablo Heras-Casado went across the street to greet his fellow countrymen.

Gasol has spoken in the past of his appreciation of opera in general and the superstar tenor in particular. And Domingo is an avid sports fan -- he has attended Lakers games, he sang the National Anthem before a Dodgers game last season and most enthusiastically supported Spain's World Cup champion team.

Placido Domingo concert of 'Boccanegra' canceled in New York

 

It looks as if Los Angeles Opera's production of "Simon Boccanegra" will be the last opportunity in the U.S. to see Plácido Domingo perform the Verdi opera for the foreseeable future.  A concert version of the opera that was scheduled for March at New York's Lincoln Center has been abruptly called off due to financial problems by the presenting company.

The company in question is the Opera Orchestra of New York, a mid-sized group that specializes in concert performances of operas with major singers. On Friday, the company issued a statement saying that a donor had withdrawn a $250,000 pledge, which led company leaders to pull the plug on the March 7 concert at Avery Fisher Hall.

Norman Raben, chairman of the Opera Orchestra's board, said in the statement that "we have a mandate to be fiscally responsible, and with the loss of funding for this production we were given no choice but to cancel the concert."

Domingo is performing "Boccanegra" at L.A. Opera though March 4. He has already performed the role in New York, London, Berlin and Milan. The opera offers a rare chance to see the renowned tenor in a baritone role.

In May, Domingo is scheduled to perform "Boccanegra" again in Berlin.

RELATED:

Stephen Colbert sings opera with Placido Domingo!

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

L.A. Opera sets 'Two Foscari,' Renee Fleming for new season

-- David Ng

Photo: Domingo in "Simon Boccanegra" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Stephen Colbert sings opera with Placido Domingo! [Video]

Satirist Stephen Colbert showed off his singing skills on Thursday's episode of "The Colbert Report" as he teamed with tenor Plácido Domingo for a rendition of one of the most familiar tunes of opera, "La Donna E Mobile," from Verdi's "Rigoletto."

Domingo, who visited Colbert's show between performances of Los Angeles Opera's current production of "Simon Boccanegra," dueted the canzone after asking the tenor for a master class in singing opera.

Domingo sang sweetly in the higher ranges to Colbert's lower notes. Colbert was dressed in white tie and tails with a Pavarotti-style handkerchief in hand. Impressively, he held his own next to the man he earlier had called "the most famous opera singer in the world," flawlessly handling the Italian lyrics.

Before they sang, Domingo seemed delighted to be part of Colbert's schtick. The host praised opera, saying that because operas are so long "you get your money's worth."

When Colbert added "I love the way you opera people soak the snooty crowd with those ticket prices," Domingo seemed both horrified (a little) and amused (a lot).

L.A. Opera celebrates Verdi at 'Simon Boccanegra' party

Opera star Plácido Domingo and conductor James Conlon have worked together all over the world. Yet “Simon Boccanegra,” which opened Saturday at Los Angeles Opera, marked the first time the two have teamed for an opera by Giuseppe Verdi.

At the opening night after-party on the fifth floor of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Domingo thanked donors for making that Verdi collaboration possible. Domingo serves as general director of L.A. Opera and Conlon as its music director.

“We were waiting, James and myself, because even though we have worked across the years on many occasions, this was our first Verdi together,” Domingo said. “So to have the pleasure to do it here it was really, really extraordinary.”

The boisterous applause following the production continued into the late-night buffet supper. Addressing the dinner guests, L.A. Opera Chairman Marc Stern ticked off Domingo’s many accomplishments, which include 138 roles, 3,500 career performances, 100 opera recordings and 12 Grammy Awards, then added: “Honestly, all of that was nothing more than a rehearsal -- or a warm-up -- for what [Domingo] did tonight.”

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

Perhaps to establish their bona fides, critics reviewing Plácido Domingo in the title role of Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra” tend to point out that Domingo is not a baritone, as the role calls for. While it’s true that Domingo first positioned himself as a baritone, that was a long time ago, and he very quickly moved up to tenor roles, in which he established a stellar reputation.

In recent years, however, the 71-year-old, who is also general director of Los Angeles Opera, has transposed some tenor roles downward, and Boccanegra seems to sit reasonably comfortably in his range.

None of these issues mattered much Saturday to an enthusiastic audience when Domingo starred in Verdi’s opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Baritone, schmaritone: Domingo was a commanding vocal and dramatic presence, and especially touching in his death scene.

PHOTOS: Los Angeles Opera's "Simon Boccanegra" with Plácido Domingo

To be sure, his voice has contracted in dimension and has acquired some sandpaper, but there was still plenty of power and expression when needed. One could argue that Domingo’s dramatic capabilities have actually grown. In addition to his death scene, one thinks of Boccanegra’s meditations on power, his deep-felt efforts to heal the city's and country’s social and political divisions, and especially his restraint in the touching scene in which he discovers his long-lost daughter, Amelia.

“Simon Boccanegra” is a strange child in the Verdi canon. It flopped when it premiered in 1857, but it took on new life when the composer revised it in 1881, with the essential input of Arrigo Boito, who created the amazing Council Scene in Act 1. Even so, it hasn’t exactly become an audience favorite, perhaps because of the low, dark vocal coloring — there is only one female principal role — and the gloom and improbability of the plot. It usually takes someone with the stature of Domingo to bring it to the stage.

L.A. Opera sets 'Two Foscari,' Renee Fleming for new season

  Los Angeles Opera will continue its recent scaled-back approach to programming with a new season featuring six productions with 37 total performances -- the same tally as the current season. Among the highlights will be the company premiere of Verdi's early opera "The Two Foscari," starring Plácido Domingo, and a joint recital performance by Renée Fleming and Susan Graham.

All six productions for the 2012-13 season will be new to L.A. Opera, with one original production and the rest imported from other companies. At its high, the company mounted 10 productions with 75 total performances in 2006-7.

Domingo, who serves as the company's general director, said in a phone interview that the L.A. Opera board "wants us to be prudent until the economic situation improves... It's not my intention to continue with six productions. I'm really looking forward to a time when we can change that."

Stephen Rountree, president of L.A. Opera, said the company "is trying to be fiscally responsible and very conservative in terms of managing our budget."

L.A. Opera has been hit hard by the economy and its $31-million production of Wagner's "Ring" cycle operas two seasons ago. It recently paid back $7 million of a $14-million emergency loan that was approved by the county in 2009.

Marc Stern, the company's chairman and CEO, said the lineup for the new season was partly a "function of the economy" and added that he would like to see a return to a larger offering "just as soon as it is fiscally responsible to do so."

"The Two Foscari," an early Verdi opera rarely performed in the U.S., will open the season (Sept. 15 to Oct. 9) in a new staging for the company directed by Thaddeus Strassberger and conducted by music director James Conlon.

Hollywood Bowl 2012: 'The Producers,' Juanes, 'Rigoletto,' Liza

It will require a lot of people to put together this year's Hollywood Bowl season, including a number of FOGs, FOHs and FOJs. Namely, friends of Gustavo Dudamel, friends of Herbie Hancock and friends of John Williams.

Among the highlights of this year's Bowl lineup, to be announced Tuesday, will be performances of Mel Brooks' record-setting hit musical "The Producers," a musical and visual tribute to Pixar, a Fourth of July program headlined by Barry Manilow, and a production of Verdi's opera "Rigoletto" starring baritone Zeljko Lucic and conducted by Dudamel, the Los Angeles Philharmonic's music director. 

Several of the Bowl's other attractions this season can be credited, in part, to the extensive network of personal and professional relationships maintained by Dudamel, Hancock, who is the Phil's creative chair for jazz, and Williams, the prolific Hollywood composer who makes frequent appearances at the Bowl and the Phil's other home, the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

PHOTOS: 2012 Hollywood Bowl highlights

"We find a lot of artists do things for us at the Bowl with their friends in a special-event category, because it’s the Bowl," said Arvind Manocha, the Phil's chief operating officer. "One of the things we feel very proud of is, 90% of our season are concerts that don’t tour, that are not going anywhere else, that are created for us, that will be done here, and they won’t be part of a 20-city engagement."

A central point of this season's tailor-made, site-specific programming will be the "Americas and Americans" festival (Aug. 14-19), an exploration of music from across the hemisphere, spearheaded by Dudamel. The Venezuela-born conductor has enlisted several Latin American colleagues, including Colombian rocker Juanes, Panamanian salsa singer-songwriter Rubén Blades and Dominican pop-merengue artist Juan Luis Guerra, to take part in various concerts.

"Juan Luis Guerra was somebody that actually we were trying to book to be a jazz headliner at the Bowl," said Deborah Borda, the Phil's president. "But Gustavo wrote to him or called him -- he knows everybody."

Also participating for one concert of the festival will be one of Dudamel's hometown acquaintances, Plácido Domingo, the superstar Spanish tenor and general director of L.A. Opera.

Placido Domingo shows support for New York music education program

 

Plácido Domingo is in New York this week to perform in the Metropolitan Opera's production of "The Enchanted Island." On Wednesday, the Spanish tenor took time out of his schedule to travel 40 blocks south where he conducted a youth concert of students who are participating in a music program inspired by Venezuela's El Sistema.

The Harmony Program offers free after-school music education to disadvantaged children throughout New York. The program is modeled after El Sistema, the Venezuelan music-education initiative whose most famous alumnus is conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

On Wednesday, Domingo conducted a concert of 35 students from Public School 129 in Harlem and P.S. 152 in Flatbush. The concert, which took place at Gotham Hall in midtown New York, was part of the Harmony Program's annual gala to raise money. Domingo received the inaugural Harmony Program Award in recognition of his career.

Programs similar in nature to El Sistema can be found in growing numbers around the country. In L.A., the Harmony Project, founded in 2001, provides classical music education for low-income children. The organization is one of the partners involved in the Los Angeles Philharmonic's YOLA Expo Center Youth Orchestra.

Domingo will return to L.A. to perform the title role in Verdi's "Simon Boccanegra," which begins performances Feb. 11.

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Placido Domingo takes issue with Washington Post critic

L.A. Opera makes early $7-million payment on county loan

Opera review: 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

-- David Ng

Photo: Placido Domingo, with young musicians from New York's Harmony Program. Credit: Kathy Willens / Associated Press

L.A. Opera makes early $7-million payment on county loan

Plácido Domingo and other leaders of Los Angeles Opera appeared before the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to announce that the company has paid back $7 million of the $14 million emergency loan it received in 2009.

The loan is due to be repaid in January 2013, so this partial payment comes ahead of schedule and saves L.A. Opera some of the interest it will owe. Domingo, who serves as the company's general director, told the supervisors that the early payment was intended to show "our good faith to the county."

The tenor was joined at the supervisors meeting by Marc Stern, L.A Opera board chairman, and Stephen Rountree, the company's chief executive officer. Stern said in an interview after the meeting that L.A. Opera has raised donor pledges -- which he described as "commitments" -- for the remaining  $7 million of the loan.

Stern said the company wanted to "demonstrate to the county that we're able to fulfill our obligations and warrant [the board's] confidence in us."

In 2009, L.A. Opera received a $14-million emergency loan, approved by the county, to help keep the company afloat. At the time, L.A. Opera was in dire financial condition, the result of the economic downturn and its costly production of Wagner's "Ring" cycle operas.

The loan, issued by Bank of America and backed by the county, is due in January 2013. The terms of the loan didn't permit early payments, but L.A. Opera negotiated to pay some of the principal early in order to save money on interest and to show that it was being proactive.

L.A. Opera expects to save approximately $350,000 in interest this calendar year by paying off some of the principal. The early payment was negotiated by William Fujioka, the chief executive of the county.