I was happy to have attended performances by the LA Phil last night of 2 works by Louis Andriessen and one by Arvo Pärt. For some strange reason, I have avoided hearing the former’s music, thinking it was too [you fill in the blank]. Like so many of us with flawed opinions, I just hadn’t [...]
Last night Mark Carlson invited me to join him seeing Matthew Bourne’s “Swan Lake” at the Ahmanson Theatre (Los Angeles). [ synopsis ] I now know that there is a DVD available of this, and the work has toured internationally since 1997.
“Wild Swans” (photo by Dee Conway)
We sat in the first balcony above the stage. [...]
I was disappointed with best score and best song at last night’s Academy Awards Ceremony. OK, there was slim pickings in the best song category, but what an embarassment to hear that Three 6 Mafia’s song, “It’s Hard out there for a Pimp” was the best song. Oh pullleeaaase! Dumb melody, dumb words, no harmony, [...]
I mentioned James Horner’s score for The New World a few weeks back. I’ve lived with his soundtrack for a while and had a few revelations.
The director used more non-Horner than Horner. The Wagner was a brilliant choice, the Mozart less so. He should have tossed it and had Horner compose more. Horner made a [...]
James Horner (one of UCLA’s graduates in composition who never finished his PhD because he started working for Roger Corman) did a marvelous job on the score for The New World.
My guess is that the director, fortunately, or unfortunately, fell in love with his temp music, in this case the opening of Wagner’s Das Rheingold [...]
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