In the mid-1980s my publisher told me about the gay choral movement. Several of his composers had written for the chorus in New York and he encouraged me to make connections to try to join that world. It didn’t happen until 1991 when the late Leonard Raver (organist to the NY Phil) recommended to Jon […]
Daniel and I have fabulous front row tickets to the Chamber Music series at Disney Hall. On Tuesday, Josie (his mother) and I went to a concert that featured our new conductor, Gustavo Dudamel. Like us, everyone was anxious to see him in action. But here he played second violin in the Mozart Clarinet Quintet […]
I watched the new Tim Burton realization of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd” the other day. I found it absolutely thrilling. But I realized that what I mean by “it” is probably different than what others may mean.
We went with Ronnie who looked at it as a musical trying to be a movie, as manifested by […]
The LA Times had an interesting article about the Beatles place in the memories of teenage girls! ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, the terrific new film by Julie Taymor, was a great success in my book. I love the film, and especially the psychedelia, but I was mostly surprised at how much I loved the Beatles arrangements. […]
Last night Peter, Juliana, Scott and I went to hear Max Raabe and the Palast Orchestra. In this tour, the ensemble devoted the evening to the crooner cabaret music of the mid 1920s through the 1930s. Post Al Jolson. Kurt Weill, Irving Berlin, and others. I didn’t find Max’s voice remarkable, but appropriate to the […]
For those of you brave enough to learn about how your brain distorts and deceives reality (that’s right: YOUR reality) I can’t recommend highly enough Cordelia Fine’s “a mind of its own” [Norton]. I am actually the Wizard of Oz, or I think I am, and behind the scenes is this busy little man huffing […]
Certain composers’ oeuvre can be thought of as one large composition. Each piece is cut from that large fabric. Composers that come to mind in this category are Edgard Varése and George Crumb. Similarly, there are songwriters who, in addition to penning a popular song, compose song prototypes (for lack of a better word), and […]
I like to go to summer blockbuster movies, you know, the big ones like Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and Pirates of the Caribbean and such. Unlike many of my friends, I don’t go expecting enlightenment or anything too serious. Entertainment and a night out with friends or a date with my honey is just fine.
On Friday, […]
Despite the fact that Mark Carlson told me that of his class of 30 students, only 2 had heard of her, I am happy to recommend a terrific new compilation of covers of Joni Mitchell songs just released on Nonesuch (3 cheers for Bob Hurwitz). It is not a sing-around-the campfire love fest of old […]
Stravinsky fans who know his original recordings will likely know the name of Adrienne Albert. She was famous to me for being the voice that sang Stravinsky’s last work “The Owl and the Pussycat” as well as many other of his late works. I found her voice refreshing, more popish and not so much of […]
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