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Post by erik on Sept 3, 2018 5:55:57 GMT -8
The annual (and to be more treasured now than ever) film night with John Williams was on the bill for this year's Labor Day weekend at the Hollywood Bowl.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra David Newman (first half) John Williams (second half) U.S. Army Herald Trumpets Steven Spielberg, special guest
Williams: OLYMPIC FANFARE AND THEME (film from past Olympics on screen) Williams: THE CAVE/FROM "RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK" (film) Williams: A NEW BEGINNING/FROM "MINORITY REPORT" Williams: FLIGHT TO NEVERLAND/FROM "HOOK" (film of movie scenes of flight) Williams: TO LENNY! TO LENNY! (celebrating Leonard Bernstein) Leonard Bernstein: OVERTURE TO "WEST SIDE STORY" (scenes from 1961 film) Leonard Bernstein: SUITE FROM "ON THE WATERFRONT"
(intermission)
Williams: MARCH FROM "RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK" Williams: WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE/FROM "LINCOLN" (Thomas Hooten, trumpet) Williams: CIRCUS TRAIN CHASE/FROM "INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE" (film) Williams: THE DUEL/FROM "THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN" (film of movie scenes of swashbuckling) Williams: THEME FROM "SCHINDLER'S LIST" (Bing Wang, violin) Williams: FINALE FROM "E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL" (film)
Encores: THE REBELLION IS REBORN/FROM "STAR WARS EPISODE 8" STAR WARS (MAIN TITLE + THRONE ROOM) IMPERIAL MARCH/FROM "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK"
An extensive Labor Day weekend program last night opened up with David Newman, the son of legendary film composer Alfred Newman, conducting the orchestra and the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets first with Williams' "Olympic Fanfare And Theme" (written for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics), and then proceeded on with the next three selections marking not only 40 years of Williams' appearances at the Bowl (his first was in 1978, subbing for an ailing Arthur Fiedler), but also his 45-year collaboration and friendship with Steven Spielberg (begun in 1973 with THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS). The music from RAIDERS and HOOK had film scenes projected on the Bowl's four HD screens to the sides of the amphitheater, while the end titles music of MINORITY REPORT was done without film. After all those, Newman and the orchestra performed Williams' "To Lenny! To Lenny!", written in 1988 to celebrate Leonard Bernstein's 70th birthday that year (he would have turned 100 this year), followed by two Bernstein works, the WEST SIDE STORY overture (with scenes from that 10-time Oscar winner) and the composer's music for the 1954 film ON THE WATERFRONT.
After intermission, the 86 year-old Williams came onstage and kicked off the second half of the night with the famous March from RAIDERS. And then onstage came Spielberg, to give us a little bit of an idea of the collaborative synergy that he and Williams had shared over the last 45 years. The except from LINCOLN featured the orchestra's principal trumpet player Thomas Hooten, in a slice of Americana from that incredible 2012 historical drama. Spielberg then showed us how Williams' creative genius tended to make his films better by showing us the opening "Circus Train" sequence from THE LAST CRUSADE, first without the score, then with Williams' score being performed by the orchestra, and the film projected on screen. Following this, with the color of the HD screens turned to black-and-white, the orchestra' concert mistress Bing Wang played the solo violin part of the much-loved theme from SCHINDLER'S LIST. Then, for the official finale, we saw the entire final 15 minutes of E.T., with the film projected on the screens, which had the crowd of close to 16,000 roaring with approval. As for encores, the light sabers came out, with all the music in this case being from the STAR WARS series. Both Spielberg and Newman came back out onstage for encores, with their own honorary light sabers on hand. The Army Herald Trumpets came back to add some more ominous feeling to the "Imperial March".
It cooled off inside the Bowl amphitheater itself during intermission; and the usual low cloud cover rolled in. But it was a truly great night at the Bowl, and one to be treasured, since Williams is not young anymore, and he won't be doing this forever.
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Post by erik on Sept 7, 2018 5:51:40 GMT -8
It was a night of Viennese classicism at the Hollywood Bowl last night, as one of the L.A. Philharmonic's favorite guest conductors returned.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Bramwell Tovey, conductor Johannes Moser, cello
Schubert: MAGIC HARP OVERTURE + BALLET MUSIC FROM "ROSAMUNDE" Haydn: CELLO CONCERTO NO. 1 Schubert: SYMPHONY NO. 5
Bramwell Tovey was once more on the podium for a program of works from Vienna. The night began with what, for me anyway, was the first hearing of any of Franz Schubert's incidental music to the 1823 Helmina von Chezy play "Rosamunde" in a live context. The play itself only lasted two performances originally; and the music itself would likely have been lost if, as Tovey pointed out, two astute Englishmen named George Grove and Arthur Sullivan (the latter being one-half of Gilbert & Sullivan) had not ventured to Vienna in the late 1860s to search for more of Schubert's music (finding a treasure trove in the bargain). The Magic Harp Overture (which Schubert recycled from that play into "Rosamunde") was followed by the two ballet sequences from the play, with trombones being there for the overture and the first part of the Ballet Music No. 1, but then having them (and the trumpets and timpani) silent for the rest of the night. The "Rosamunde" music was obviously a testimonial to Schubert's ability to make great music, but it was also a reminder of how much was almost lost forever to time and how much might have been created had the composer not passed away two months short of his 32nd birthday.
After a bit of orchestral reconfiguration, the German-born Canadian cellist Johannes Moser was on hand to perform Franz Joseph Haydn's 1765 Cello Concerto In C Major, which, until 1961, was believed to be that composer's only concerto fir cello (a second one was uncovered in Prague). Moser's technique was on the money here (this is not an easy work to pull off well, since Haydn wrote it for his good friend Anton Kraft, a virtuoso cellist at the Esterhazy court orchestra); and for the cadenzz near the first movement's conclusion, he pulled off a bit of a riff on John Williams' STAR WARS theme. The other two movements were pulled off with equal precision, and Tovey and a very much scaled-back orchestra were on top form.
Following intermission, the evening concluded with Schubert's beloved Fifth Symphony, a work that excludes not only trumpets and timpani, but even clarinets as well, and which could easily be considered his "Pastoral" Symphony. The work's extreme popularity (in comparison to Schubert's other early symphonies, which took until at least the early 1970s before they were actually performed with any kind of frequency), was very much in evidence in the unusually cool and quiet outdoor setting of the Bowl amphitheater, where only the sounds of crickets could be heard apart from the orchestra. Given how small the size of the orchestra had to be for this work, the symphony still sounded full of life, and had many moments in each of its four movements, including parts of the Andante (second movement) and Menuetto (third movement).
The coolness of the evening was accentuated by the appearance of the low cloud deck coming in from off the ocean, but nothing really spoiled the fifth of my six concerts at the Bowl.
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Post by erik on Sept 12, 2018 5:56:03 GMT -8
My sixth and final summer concert at the Hollywood Bowl for 2018 was on the solemn day of remembrance that September 11th has been since that horrific late summer day in 2001.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Karina Canellakis, conductor Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
Julia Perry: A SHORT PIECE FOR ORCHESTRA Leonard Bernstein: SYMPHONY NO. 2 (THE AGE OF ANXIETY) Brahms: SYMPHONY NO. 2
Karina Canellakis, former associate conductor of the Dallas Symphony and newly-named principal conductor (as of the 2019-2020 season) of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, was on the podium last night for a fairly unconventional program. It began with "A Short Piece For Orchestra" by the African-American composer Julia Perry. It was a new work to me, but the eight-minute piece had actually been composed by Ms. Perry back in 1952, and in fact it was one of the few works of hers that got any kind of performance during her lifetime (from 1924 to 1979), first heard in 1965 in a radio broadcast of the New York Philharmonic, under William Steinberg. The work was very modern, and didn't seem to show whatever age it might have had.
After a brief orchestral re-configuration, the great Jean-Yves Thibaudet came onstage to perform the principal piano part of Leonard Bernstein's Second Symphony, inspired by, and named for, W.H. Auden's poem "The Age Of Anxiety". There were no hints of what we would later hear in "On The Town" or "West Side Story" in this 36 minute-long work, which Bernstein composed between 1947 and 1949, of four people struggling to find faith in what seems to be a faithless world (in our present context, the names and situations may have changed, but the struggle remains the same). The size of the orchestra was at its biggest, with Ms. Canellakis ably threading through some of Lenny's thorniness to find the humanity that is part-and-parcel of this work; and Mr. Thibaudet handled his piano part with the skill that every classical music aficionado knew him for.
Following intermission, the size of the orchestra contracted considerably, though trombones and tuba remained, for Johannes Brahms' ever-popular Second Symphony, composed in 1877. The work's first movement was of a decidedly pastoral quality (with what sounded like melodic fragments of the composer's famed "Cradle Song" interspersed), while the second movement was of an elegiac quality, veering between major and minor key and moments of poignancy befitting this solemn anniversary. The third movement, a scherzo in all but actual name (Brahms still wanted to avoid too many overt comparisons to Beethoven), was deftly handled, while the ultimate triumph of the human spirit of fourth movement (the trombones and tuba were held in reserve until the second half of the movement); and the final oratory rang out through the Bowl amphitheater and the crowd of around 10,000.
And so caps off another great season of concertizing under the stars in the hills above Los Angeles.
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Ross
Teen Chick
Posts: 699
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Post by Ross on Nov 20, 2018 8:40:26 GMT -8
Kacey Musgraves
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Post by erik on Jun 16, 2019 9:32:52 GMT -8
It was officially the opening night of the 2019 Hollywood Bowl summer season last night, and the first of eight I am going to between now and September 14th. This one was, how shall we say, "Legend"-ary.
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra Thomas Wilkins, conductor Members of YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles)
Miklos Rozsa: WALTZ FROM "MADAME BOVARY" Smetana: DANCE OF THE COMEDIANS/FROM "THE BARTERED BRIDE" Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: DANSE NEGRE/FROM "AFRICAN SUITE" Saint-Saens: BACCHANALE/FROM "SAMSON AND DELILAH"
INTERMISSION
JOHN LEGEND w. backing band, plus Hollywood Bowl Orchestra & YOLA.
This night began with the waltz that the great Hungarian-born film composer Miklos Rozsa composed as part of his score for the 1939 movie MADAME BOVARY, demonstrating to a near-sold-out Hollywood Bowl crowd that the waltz form could still survive well into the 20th and 21st centuries, especially on the silver screen. The orchestra then followed that up with the famous "Dance Of The Comedians" from Bedrich Smetana's 1866 opera "The Bartered Bride", which of course would be used in many a Warner Brothers cartoon, especially those involving the Road Runner.
The final two pieces of the first half featured various members of YOLA, or Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, being that this opening night benefitted the L.A. Philharmonic's music education programs. Up first was the "Danse Negre" from the African-English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's 1899 "African Suite"; and then the somewhat ghoulish "Bacchanale" from Camille Saint-Saens' 1877 Biblical opera "Samson And Delilah". In both of those, it was YOLA's percussion section that blended in well with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
After intermission came the main feast, in the form of current R&B master John Legend. With a backing band fit for contemporary and "old school" material, Legend performed, among other things, hits like "Ordinary People", and "All Of Me", as well as stunning version of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" (he sang this a capella, if you can believe it); Marvin Gaye's very topical 1971 hit "What's Going On"; and, most unexpectedly, "All Of My Love", a much-played FM classic rock track from Led Zeppelin's 1979 album In Through The Out Door. Various light displays were shown on the exterior of the Bowl's outer shell, some pastels, and some visions of interstellar space. The night came to a rousing end with Legend and rap star Common performed their Oscar-winning song "Glory" from director Ava Duvernay's great 2014 film SELMA; visuals of newspaper articles from the civil rights movement were once again projected onto the Bowl's outer shell, and the fireworks went along with it to wow the crowd, which I would estimate was close to the 18,000-seat capacity of the venue.
A great way to start another summer of great music-making underneath the night skies of the City of Angels.
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Post by oregonchickfan on Jun 22, 2019 14:08:49 GMT -8
Not me unfortunately, but my step-mom will be singing in the backing choir for Garth Brooks at Autzen Stadium (Eugene, OR) on the 29th (next Saturday).
I saw him in 2015 and it was definitely a fantastic show. I wasn't able to get tickets to the Eugene show, which is a huge bummer.
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Post by Kent67b on Jun 27, 2019 13:45:50 GMT -8
Not me unfortunately, but my step-mom will be singing in the backing choir for Garth Brooks at Autzen Stadium (Eugene, OR) on the 29th (next Saturday). I saw him in 2015 and it was definitely a fantastic show. I wasn't able to get tickets to the Eugene show, which is a huge bummer.
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Post by DCXMMXVI on Jul 3, 2019 16:25:12 GMT -8
I went to my first country stampede last month. The decades long tradition of bringing a mix of old, new, popular and unheard of country singers to Manhatten, KS for 3 days of music, got moved for the first time to a new location, in Topeka, KS. They moved it because of the severe flooding. Ironically, the location in Topeka flooded too. But the shows kept going, until the finale act on the final night, when a severe thunder and lightening storm closed the event. We didn't get to see Jason Aldean, and I got over it pretty quickly haha.
But I did get to see Clint Black and Sawyer Brown. 5/5 for both. Jake Owen had a great stage presence. Too bad he didn't have good music to go along with it.
Of all the new people, or people without name recognition, Jimmie Allen was the guy who stood out. He's got a lot of energy and his music is good too. My grandma met him after his show. She said he was very nice.
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Ross
Teen Chick
Posts: 699
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Post by Ross on Jul 16, 2019 5:07:48 GMT -8
I saw Dido at the end of May.
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Post by erik on Jul 24, 2019 5:43:42 GMT -8
Last night at the Bowl, it was about one work, and one work only: the gigantic Resurrection Symphony of Gustav Mahler.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Gustavo Dudamel, conductor Miah Persson, soprano Anna Larsson, contralto Los Angeles Master Chorale (Grant Gershon, choral director)
Mahler: SYMPHONY NO. 2 (RESURRECTION)
On this very warm summer evening, Gustavo Dudamel was on hand to lead what has to be one of longest, most emotionally extreme and intense works ever created, Mahler's Resurrection Symphony. It is a work that is of such length that it could be the only work done that night. It began in C Minor, with the ominous chugging of the entire cello section, in what is known as the "Totenfeier" ("Funeral Rite"), an opening movement that lasted a mind-busting 25 minutes on its own, and was marked by extremes in volume, and massive percussion blows that seemed to slightly shake even the concrete foundation of the inner amphitheater itself. This was followed by a more tranquil (if you can call it that) Andante Moderato, with somewhat lighter orchestration. The third movement, however, returned to the violent turbulence of the opening, being a somewhat demonic combination of a waltz and a Beethoven-influence Scherzo. Ms. Larsson entered in during the fourth movement, singing the first vocal section of the work, "Urlicht" (Primal Light) from the song collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth's Magic Horn) that Mahler utilized frequently throughout his career; it spoke of Man being in great pain and distress, and how she would rather be in heaven.
Both Ms. Larsson and Ms. Persson joined the 120 voices of the Los Angeles Master Chorale in the 32 minute-long final movement, which is based on the German poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock's "Die Auferstehung", or "The Resurrection". This final section was of the conquering of pain, horror, and suffering in a rise up from the dead into the starry reaches of the heavens (not unlike the "Ode To Joy" finale of Beethoven's Ninth), capped off by a huge choral declaration ("Rise, again, yes, rise again!/Will you, my heart, in an instant!/That for which you have suffered/To God shall it carry you!"), the peeling of bells, the organ, and a massive orchestral finish. All of this in a work that timed in at 86 minutes, and had the crowd, which I estimated to be at around 10,000, at its feet at the uplifting finale.
It remained fairly warm last night (a tropical heat wave is currently making things rather sultry here in the L.A.. area), but it seemed appropriate for a work like the Resurrection Symphony to remind us of that better world beyond, especially since it was under the stars in the hills above Los Angeles.
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Post by erik on Aug 7, 2019 6:04:23 GMT -8
One would have thought they would have seen everything after having been to the Hollywood Bowl for close to 200 concert over the last twenty-three seasons. But last night proved that there is still a first time for everything.
Budapest Festival Orchestra Ivan Fischer, conductor Jacqueline De Bique, soprano Kelley O'Connor, mezzo-soprano Michael Scahde, tenor Adam Plachetka, bass Los Angeles Master Chorale (Grant Gershon, choral director)
Mozart: SYMPHONY NO. 41 (JUPITER) Mozart: REQUIEM
The "first thing" in this case was a visiting orchestra from overseas was onstage, namely Hungary's Budapest Festival Orchestra, under the direction of the man who founded the ensemble in the early 1980s, Ivan Fischer. But what was also very unusual is that, at the announced start time of the concert at 8 PM, the orchestra was not yet onstage. Then they suddenly came out of the sides of the Bowl stage to take their places; and Fischer led the night's all-Mozart program off with the composer's final symphony, the Jupiter Symphony (#41), a work from 1788 named not by the composer but supposedly by the English impresario Johann Peter Solomon, possibly for the three sharp chords that open the work, like lightning bolts being hurled by the Roman god of lightning. Both Fischer and his orchestra performed this work at a surprisingly fast pace for the first three movements (though the second movement Andante was, appropriately, slower-paced, and left trumpets and timpani silent). I was a bit surprised that the finale was taken at a bit more leisurely pace because several themes come together here in a Handel-inspired fugal tactic. But the audience was impressed by our European guests, who had had two previous concerts at the Bowl over the past few nights.
Following intermission, the orchestra and Fischer were joined by our four vocal soloists and the 50-voice Los Angeles Master Chorale for Mozart's Requiem. This work was only completed in Mozart's hands in the first two parts of it (Introitus; Kyrie), because the composer, perhaps knowing that he was writing his own funeral music, passed away before the rest of the work, though already sketched out, could be orchestrated and scored (the rest was done by his close pupil Franz Xaver Sussmayr at the request of his widow Costanze). The Requiem seemed an all-too-appropriate work for the evening, given what America had been through over the previous ten days. Our four vocal soloists were in fine form in their solo and collaborative parts in the middle sections of the work; and, in the vehement "Dies Irae" section, both the orchestra and the Chorale were at full strength. The "Lacrimosa" section was particularly hard for some to take because of its elegiac quality; and Fischer decided to end this section not with a loud declaration of "Amen", but a quieter one. The same held true at the very end of the "Lux Aeterna" ("Qui pius est" [For Thou art merciful]), which concluded the work.
Another big surprise was that at no time during the performance were there any noisy aerial distractions, like there sometimes are. And even though it continues to be rather hot here in Southern California, a cool breeze did blow in from off the ocean during intermission. All in all, this all-Mozart program was a significant success, both with the Jupiter Symphony and then, of course, with the Requiem, with our European visitors, our soloists, and the L.A. Master Chorale making the most of another great night under clear skies at the Bowl..
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Post by erik on Aug 16, 2019 5:58:40 GMT -8
Last night at the Hollywood Bowl, it was all about America In Space, as part of the 50th anniversary of our landing on the Moon.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra David Newman, conductor Nathan Cole, violin Diana Newman, soprano Pedro Eustache, Native American flute Recharj Sound Bowl Ensemble Abigail Fraeman, guest speaker
Holst: THE PLANETS/I: MARS, THE BRINGER OF WAR Hans Zimmer/Pharrell Williams/Benjamin Wallfisch: SELECTION FROM "HIDDEN FIGURES" Penka Kouneva: WOMEN ASTRONAUTS Justin Hurwitz: THE LANDING/FROM "FIRST MAN" Michael Giacchino: ADVENT
INTERMISSION
Copland: FANFARE FOR THE COMMON MAN James Horner: SELECTION FROM "APOLLO 13" Harry Gregson-Williams: SELECTION FROM "THE MARTIAN" Steven Price: SHENZOU/FROM "GRAVITY" Holst: THE PLANETS/IV: JUPITER, THE BRINGER OF JOLLITY
David Newman, part of that Hollywood film music dynasty that includes Randy and Thomas Newman, held sway in this excursion into the void, kicking off with the ominous marital rhythms of "Mars" from Gustav Holst's famous 1914 work "The Planets". Following this, we got a look into how women aided in the growth of manned spaceflight, and of NASA itself, with an excerpt from the 2016 film HIDDEN FIGURES, which was about how three female African-American mathematicians broke the racial barrier with the computations that put John Glenn into orbit aboard Friendshup 7 in February 1962. This was followed by a new work for violin and orchestra by the Finnish female composer Penka Kouneva, "Women Astronautrs", featuring a montage of the history of female astronauts in NASA's manned spaceflight program, and Mr. Cole on violin. Next up was a clip from director Damien Chazell's 2018 film FIRST MAN, where Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gossling) and Michael Collins (Lukas Haas) bring the command module "Eagle" down to a landing on the Sea of Tranquility; this was set to the very moody, intense music of Justin Hurwitz. The conclusion to the first half was a new work by film composer Michael Giacchino entitled "Advent", which featured Ms. Newman, Mr. Eustache, and the Recharj Suound Bowl Ensemble (a group that, among other things and for purposes of the interstellar soundscape of the night, used glass armonicas).
Following intermission, the second half started with our nation's unofficial classical national anthem, Aaron Copland's "Fanfare For The Common Man", featuring the orchestra's brass section. Then, with music by the late James Horner, we saw an excerpt from director Ron Howard's APOLLO 13, the intense 1995 film recreation of the most frightening manned flight in history, where Apollo 13's flight to the Moon was abruptly and almost fatally cut short by an oxygen tank explosion in the ship's service module. This was followed by a clip from Ridley Scott's 2015 film THE MARTIAN, with music by Harry Gregson-Williams, about an astronaut (Matt Damon) having to survive on Mars after being accidentally stranded there during a Martian dust storm. This was in turn followed by a clip from Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron's masterful 2013 sci-fi film GRAVITY, in which Sandra Bullock has to maneuver herself into an escape pod on the Chinese space station after her space shuttle mission goes horribly wrong; the music was by Steven Price (who won an Oscar for his work on that film). The night ended with "Jupiter", the fourth movement of "The Planets", putting a cap on what was a great night at the Bowl for celebrating the beauty, the mystery, and the promise of what lies beyond. Thankfully, the night remained free of the low clouds that usually come in off the ocean; and we had a full Moon in the sky as the crowds filed out of the amphitheater.
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Post by erik on Aug 17, 2019 8:35:23 GMT -8
It was movie night at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, for my fifth concert of the summer (and second consecutive night). This one involved a film that, for better or worse (depending on how you look at it), revived dinosaurs from sixty-five million years of extinction.
Los Angeles Philharmonic David Newman, conductor
JURASSIC PARK
For the fourth time (the first three being 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY; E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL; and JAWS), I went to a full-length movie at the Bowl, with the music from that film being performed by the L.A. Phil to the film being projected on the Bowl's five screens. This time, it was director Steven Spielberg's 1993 sci-fi/suspense thriller JURASSIC PARK, co-scripted by the late Michael Crichton from his best-selling 1990 novel. Since most people know the plot (dinosaur-themed amusement park on a tropical island that turns into an ordeal of terror), it really isn't necessary to regurgitate that all. Suffice to say, it was accompanied by the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing the score by John Williams; and it hit all the right places. Perhaps the two sequels to this film, plus the (so far) two Jurassic World offerings that came in 2015 and 2018 have dulled the senses, but the dinosaur attacks themselves still seemed extremely hair-raising, as did the idea of seeing the two child protagonists (Joseph Mazzello; Ariana Richards) get menaced by all manner of T-rex and velociraptor, including the climactic battle with two of the latter inside a kitchen. There was also a fair amount of black comedy involved, as one would expect from a director like Spielberg who learned about combining horror and black comedy from Alfred Hitchcock. The film, after more than a quarter of a century (YIPE!!), still holds up, as do the performances of Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Samuel L. Jackson, and Wayne Knight (as the devious park employee whose scheme to smuggle dinosaur embryos off the island leads to the mayhem).
The amphitheater was about two-thirds full (12,000), so it did seem like there were enough people there who had had their fill of Marvel and DC comic-book films. In the meantime, Williams' music still holds up, being noble at the right moments (including its signature theme) and the cues during the dinosaur attacks that were redolent of Igor Stravinsky's ballet score for "The Rite Of Spring" and Silvestre Revueltas' "Noche De Los Mayas". It did cool off quite fast, with the low cloud cover coming in off the ocean; but it was otherwise another great evening in the hills above Los Angeles.
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Post by erik on Aug 28, 2019 5:43:46 GMT -8
Last night at the Hollywood Bowl, it was a universe-encompassing pairing of works.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Xian Zhang, conductor Liv Redpath, soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano Toby Spence, tenor Michael Sumuel, bass Los Angeles Master Chorale (Grant Gershon, choral director)
Caroline Shaw: THE OBSERVATORY (world premiere) Beethoven: SYMPHONY NO. 9 (CHORAL)
Xian Zhang, the Chinese-born music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, held the podium on Tuesday. Up first was the world premiere of a work by the 37 year-old American composer Caroline Shaw, "The Observatory". This was a work that, according to Ms. Shaw in the Bowl's program notes, was a work she had forming in her mind earlier this year but got it down clearer when she made a visit to the Griffith Observatory, which lies just four miles to the east of the Bowl. A seventeen minute-long interstellar kind of symphonic tone poem, the work opened with four massive sustained orchestral chords, and was one that required a fairly large orchestra, including piano and xylophone, for its spatial effects. Interspersed in the music were reference to Richard Strauss' "Don Juan", J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #3, the opening measures of Sibelius's Second Symphony, and the closing of Brahms's First. At the end, Ms. Shaw herself came onstage to take a brief bow with Ms. Zhang. So who says new music can't be eminently understood?
Following intermission, the size of the orchestra was reduced significantly, but the Los Angeles Master Chorale was bought onstage for the universe-encompassing work that is the Beethoven Ninth Symphony. There were some noticeable differences in this performances from the nine other times I had heard this work performed at the Bowl in the past. The first movement was, of course, awe-inspiring. Ms. Zhang, though, did cut parts of the demonic Scherzo (used to scary effect by director Stanley Kubrick in his 1971 film A CLOCKWORK ORANGE), especially during the Trio section, a bit short; and she did run through the third movement Adagio, which one would have expected to be elegiac, a bit faster than I had expected. Then in the final movement, during the first six minutes, I had noticed that our four vocal soloists for the night were not onstage yet (they usually would appear in the break between the Scherzo and the Adagio). In fact, it wasn't until the chaotic reprise of the movement's opening that they quickly took their seats, two to either side of the podium, to recite Beethoven's setting of Friedrich von Schiller's "Ode To Joy", along with the Chorale at the back of the stage. Both the soloists and the Chorale, along with Ms. Zhang and the L.A. Phil, were in fine form for this epochal 24 minute-long finale; and it capped off yet one more fine night under the stars in the hills above Los Angeles.
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Post by erik on Sept 2, 2019 5:48:03 GMT -8
John Williams hosted and shared conducting duties with David Newman last night at the Hollywood Bowl for what I have come to know as the annual Light Sabers Convention.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra David Newman, conductor John Williams, co-conductor/host Cal State Fullerton University Singers (Robert Istad, choral director)
Richard Whiting: HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD/FROM "HOLLYWOOD HOTEL" (with film clips) John Williams: OVERTURE TO "THE COWBOYS" John Williams: TWO SELECTIONS FROM "JANE EYRE" John Williams: HAN SOLO AND THE PRINCESS/FROM "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" Alfred Newman: 20TH CENTURY FOX FANFARE Alfred Newman: THEME FROM "HOW THE WEST WAS WON" (with film clips of Westerns) Richard Rodgers: CAROUSEL WALTZ/FROM "CAROUSEL"
INTERMISSION
John Williams: THEME FROM "STAR WARS: GALAXY'S EDGE" John Williams: OPENING SEQUENCE FROM "E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL" John Williams: EXCERPTS FROM "JURASSIC PARK" (with film) John Williams: EXCERPTS FROM "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN" (with film) John Williams: DRY YOUR TEARS, AFRIKA"/FROM "AMISTAD" John Williams: THE ADVENTURES OF HAN/FROM "SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY" John Williams: LUKE AND LEIA/FROM "RETURN OF THE JEDI" John Williams: MAIN TITLE FROM "STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE"
Encores: YODA'S THEME/FROM "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" IMPERIAL MARCH/FROM "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" MARCH FROM "RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK"
It isn't easy to cram in a lot of great music into a 2-hour, 15-minute extravaganza, but it always happens when John Williams shows up at the Hollywood Bowl, as he has done every year since 1978. Recently, though, he has ceded some of the conducting duties to David Newman, whose father Alfred Newman was a mentor to Williams when Williams was starting out in the industry in the 1950s. Williams conducted the "Star-Spangled Banner" to open things, but left the first half of the show up to Newman, which included excerpts from Williams' score to the 1970 TV adaptation of Jane Eyre, which neither I nor any of the other 16,000 or so in attendance had ever heard before (it was a British TV adaptation, and I don't know that it was ever broadcast on TV), and the overture to the 1972 Mark Rydell-directed Western opus THE COWBOYS, the one in which John Wayne gets shot and killed in the back before the end of the film...by Bruce Dern. The first half concluded with music that David's famous father composed, including the famous 20th Century Fox Fanfare, and the theme for the 1963 Western epic HOW THE WEST WAS WON (with excerpts from classic Westerns shown on the big screens surrounding the amphitheater).
Following intermission, Newman came back to conduct the music for the new Disneyland attraction STAR WARS: THE GALAXY'S EDGE, and the opening of E.T. (with that sequence shown on the screens); and then it was all Williams. Here, the Cal State University Fullerton Singers joined in for the choral excerpts for the scores to three of Spielberg's great 1990s films, including "Dry Your Tears, Afrika", a musical adaptation of Ivory Coast poet Bernard Dadie's poem heard in the 1997 period drama AMISTAD. After that, it was nearly all-Star Wars, including the first two encores; but the night finally concluded with the famous March from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.
Williams has had to cut back on his conducting duties, since film scoring does take up quite a bit of his time, and he is, after all, 87 years old. Nevertheless, he and Newman did a good job of being a tag-team for one more great night of film music under the stars in the hills above L.A.
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Post by erik on Sept 15, 2019 8:02:25 GMT -8
My eighth and final trip to the Hollywood Bowl this summer (and this decade) was all about the three elements in one of the great groups of the last half-century.
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra Thomas Wilkins, conductor
EARTH, WIND, AND FIRE
The legendary R&B band Earth, Wind, and Fire, though they lost a principal member, Maurice White, a few years ago, was onstage at the Bowl, along with Thomas Wilkins and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra for a show that, with intermission, lasted a good two hours and five minutes. Both at the start of the show, and immediately following intermission, Wilkins and the orchestra set the mood with some of the repertoire of one Edward Kennedy Ellington, or Duke Ellington to the rest of us. The "overture", as it were, was "Giggling Rapids", a movement from Ellington's great 1970 allegorical ballet "The River", where jazz and modern classical music met in the middle in a way, followed by a medley of Sir Duke's songs, written with Billy Strayhorn, including "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and "Take The 'A' Train". The second half began with another except from "The River", entitled "Meander".
EW&F entertained the sold-out crowd of 18,000 with a whole slew of their classic hits, many with a spiritual and at times interstellar bent, touching on R&B, funk, disco, and jazz, helped out by Wilkins and the orchestra, who were positioned on a stage-wide podium in back of the Bowl's stage. The song list, although I can't name them all, included fan favorites like "Shining Star", "That's The Way Of The World", "Getaway", "Sing A Song", "Serpentine Fire", and "Fantasy", among others. The night was capped off with their 1979 hit "September" (apropos), and a massive pyrotechnics display, even more appropriate given the last part of the band's name. As par for the course, the Bowl's amplification, combined with the crowd noise, could at times be overwhelming and momentarily deafening. But it was a great way to cap off another summer and another decade (my twenty-third year overall) of concert-going to the Bowl.
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Ross
Teen Chick
Posts: 699
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Post by Ross on Sept 28, 2019 10:07:50 GMT -8
Ashley McBryde - Shepherd's Bush Empire
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Post by erik on Jul 4, 2021 15:24:42 GMT -8
Last night marked the return of the general paying public to the Hollywood Bowl, one of the great musical venues of the world, which had only recently come back to life after twenty-one months in total silence because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was, for me, my first time going to the Bowl since the Fireworks Finale of the 2019 season. So it only seemed appropriate that fireworks would be involved here too.
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra Thomas Wilkins, conductor Kool and the Gang
I would estimate the size of the crowd at the first true concert in the Bowl at close to 17,000, or just under the sell-out threshold (which would be 17,500); and it was led off by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra under the direction of Thomas Wilkins. This was a relatively short opening set of largely patriotic favorites by, among others, George Gershwin ("Strike Up The Band"), plus the official anthems of all four branches of our armed forces (Army; Navy; Air Force; Marines), members of whom stood up whenever their particular branch's anthem was being performed. All of this, thankfully and mercifully, was free of the uber-jingoism that tends to distort the reality of our nation.
Following intermission, we got plenty of old-school 70's and 80's R&B, funk, and disco from one of the longest-serving groups in music history, Kool and the Gang. Formed in Jersey City, New Jersey all the way back in 1964 (!), the group, led by Robert "Kool" Bell, gave us a solid hour of their greatest hits: "Open Sesame" (from the soundtrack of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER); "Jungle Boogie"; "Hollywood Swinging" (apropos); "Joanna"; "Get Down On It"; "Too Hot"; "Ladies Night"; and, of course, their #1 hit of the winter of 1981, "Celebration". The night was capped off with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and Maestro Wilkins returning for a series of John Phillip Sousa marches set to the traditional pyrotechnic display--which, unsurprisingly, was as spectacular as ever. Out of an abundance of caution, at least 90% of those in attendance had their masks with them, as did I.
It was also interesting to note some things that one needed to be reminded of about the place: the "stacked parking"; the shuttle buses; the long lines going through the security and ticket scanners; and the Bowl's amplification system, which was all too effective during Kool and the Gang's set (my ears kept ringing for two hours after the show ended). Hopefully, everything else can go according to Hoyle, as I am going to four more shows between now and September 9th.
All in all, it was a great way to return to L.A.'s premiere outdoor arts venue.
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Post by erik on Jul 16, 2021 6:23:47 GMT -8
Last night's Hollywood Bowl concert was the first legitimate all-classical concert I had been to since a performance of the Beethoven Ninth in August 2019; and it was a solid one.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Gustavo Dudamel, conductor Viola Davis, narrator
Prokofiev: SYMPHONY NO. 1 (CLASSICAL) Margaret Bonds: SELECTIONS FROM "MONTGOMERY VARIATIONS" Duke Ellington: MARTIN LUTHER KING/FROM "THREE BLACK KINGS" Prokofiev: PETER AND THE WOLF
The night began with a work that is by now something of a warhorse, the Symphony No. 1 of Sergei Prokofiev. Prokofiev composed this work in 1917 after taking up the suggestion of Nicolai Tcherenpnin, his teacher at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in his native Russia, to study the piano works of Haydn and Mozart; and thus the idea formed in the 26 year-old composer's mind of what a symphony by either one of those two late 18th century Viennese giants might sound like if they had lived in his time. For those reasons, the L.A. Phil, under Dudamel's direction, was noticeably smaller to conform to the dimensions of Prokofiev's modern Haydn/Mozart concept, hence the symphony's "Classical" moniker. It had all of Prokofiev's characteristic wit, along with the wit of the two role models to whom he was paying homage.
The second work was very close to our own nation's experience, as Dudamel and the L.A. Phil performed a work that I had never heard before--selections from the "Montgomery Variations" of the African-American composer Margaret Bonds, which she composed in 1964 under the inspiration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s leading the famous boycott of segregated transit buses in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955-56. The selections, all in D Minor though modulating to F Major at the end, were very much based on ethnic African-American spirituals, and extremely accessible in the manner of legendary black composers like William Grant Still. This was followed by the final work of Duke Ellington, the excerpt from his 1974 suite "Three Black Kings" that paid homage to Dr. King--again a very recognizable and extremely accessible work to anyone with an open mind.
Following intermission, actress Viola Davis assisted Dudamel and the orchestra in performing a touchstone work in the popularizing of classical music among the youth of the world, Prokofiev's famous 1934 "Peter And The Wolf", the story of a young boy who must assist his friends in capturing a big grey wolf that is menacing them near a big pond. All of the characters are represented by various solo instruments of the orchestra, the rifles of hunters represented by the timpani. Davis narrated the proceedings with the kind of ghoulish relish and abandonment that the piece required (even to the somewhat graphic and tragic demise of the duck); hers was very comparable to two recordings I have of this piece: one featuring Sting with Claudio Abbado and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (from 1990); and David Bowie with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra (from 1977).
All in all, even as the night cooled off, and a lot of folks were still wearing masks (including yours truly), it was a welcome return of the Bowl's principal bread-and-butter, though all of the works were of the 20th century, to the hills above Hollywood.
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Post by erik on Aug 13, 2021 5:54:12 GMT -8
A significantly eclectic and, in some ways, Afro-Centric program was on the bill for last night's Hollywood Bowl concert that I attended.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Gustavo Dudamel, conductor Randall Gomsby, violin
Adolphus Hailstork: AN AMERICAN PORT OF CALL Joseph Bologne: VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 9, OP. 8 Dvorak: SYMPHONY NO. 9 (NEW WORLD)
Gustavo Dudamel was on the podium for works that spanned three different centuries. The first work was the eight minute-long "An American Port Of Call", composed in 1985 by African-American composer Adolphus Hailstork and first performed by the Virginia Symphony. The work was a very solid piece, full of the composer's ethnic melodies, placed into a modern context. One can draw whatever conclusions one wants from the work's title: it can refer to any modern seaport anywhere along any part of America's coastlines, or it can refer to those in the unfortunate days of slave-trading. In any case, however, it is a work as "American" as any that's ever been.
The second work found the orchestra greatly reduced down from the Hailstork work to a modest force of string players, as African-American violinist Randall Gomsby came on to play a work from the late 18th century that was likely unknown to most of us in attendance. It was the Violin Concerto No. 9 of the French-Caribbean composer Joseph Bologne (Chevallier De Saint-Georges), a work from the late 1770's that was very much in the style of the two titans of late 18th century classical music, Haydn and Mozart, particularly Mozart (comparisons to W.A. Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 were running a bit through my own mind). Bologne's work has become better known over the last twenty years; but for all intents and purposes, the Ninth Violin Concerto was a work that begged to be heard; and both Mr. Gomsby, and members of the L.A. Phil made sure that it was. Mr. Gomsby was a very-abled soloist, given that Bologne's writing for that instrument was as complex as anything Mozart had done.
Following intermission, Dudamel and the full forces of the L.A. Phil came back on to give us one of the great war horses in classical music, a work that was among the first to be heard at the Bowl when the place opened a century ago: the Symphony No. 9 of Antonin Dvorak, the "New World". Dvorak composed this during the three years (1893-1895) he taught at the National Conservatory in New York; and it was his intent to explore the various ethnic styles of music in America's heartlands to help inspire future American composers to look to the music of their own native soil, as he had with his previous works, redolent as those were of his native Bohemia. The work's aspirations were very much in evidence, even with the fact that it was in the seemingly dark key of E Minor. The famous Largo, whose melodic fragment on English horn became the basis of the song "Goin' Home", reflected the influence of the African-American peoples he met; while the vigorous third movement Scherzo had elements of the Native American music he heard while spending time with his fellow Czechs in the Iowa town of Spillsville. The fourth and final movement was a summation of Dvorak's impressions of the nation as a whole as the 19th century was coming to a close, climaxing with a brilliant final fade-out in the key of E Major at the end.
Normally the Bowl would cool off from the afternoon heat, but last night it stayed quite warm. The vast majority of people still had their masks on, except when they were having their dinner and drinks. I was very glad to have heard the first two works, as they were works that, in the case of Hailstork's, were either relatively new or, in the case of Bologne's concerto, were far older but also far lesser-known. And of course the Dvorak New World Symphony was one that plenty of people knew, so it wasn't hard to get them engaged, even though there was the (somewhat) irritating applause in the silent gaps between the movements.
All in all, it was one more good evening at the Bowl, despite all that is happening in the world.
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Post by oregonchickfan on Aug 13, 2021 23:26:45 GMT -8
A bit premature on my response, however I will be attending Lindsay Stirling in Portland (OR) on September 6th, followed by Kings of Leon on October 3rd (Ridgefield, WA). (Assuming we don't go on lockdown again).
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Post by erik on Sept 5, 2021 10:52:55 GMT -8
Last night at the Hollywood Bowl marked the return of John Williams to the stage after a year and a half in cold storage due to the pandemic...which also meant that the light sabers came out as well (LOL).
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra David Newman, conductor (1st Half) John Williams, conductor (2nd Half)
Richard Whiting: HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD (arranged by John Williams) Maurice Jarre: LAWRENCE OF ARABIA Gershwin: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Nino Rota: THE GODFATHER John Williams: SABRINA (saluting Audrey Hepburn) Max Steiner: CASABLANCA John Williams: HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE
(intermission)
All John Williams: OVERTURE TO "THE COWBOYS" 1984 OLYMPIC FANFARE AND THEME A CHILD'S TALE/FROM "THE BFG" SCHERZO FOR MOTORCYCLE AND ORCHESTRA/FROM "INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE" MARION'S THEME/FROM "RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK" THE ADVENTURES OF HAN/FROM "SOLO: A STAR WARS STIRY" YODA'S THEME/FROM "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" THRONE ROOM AND FINALE/FROM "STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE" IMPERIAL MARCH/FROM "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK"
Encores: FLYING/FROM "E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL" MARCH FROM "RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK"
David Newman, he of the Newman dynasty of film composers (including the legendary patriarch Alfred Newman, and David's cousins Thomas and Randy), did the first half of the show with a wide variety of film music that included the archetypal music from such "blockbusters" of the past as LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (Maurice Jarre) and THE GOFATHER (Nino Rota); bot of those were accompanied by excerpts from those films shown on the Bowl's five big HD screens. There was also Gershwin's "An American In Paris" to accompany the dance scenes of the 1951 film of the same name, as well as Max Steiner's CASABLANCA. With the L.A. Phil's concertmistress Bing Wang serving as violin soloist, we were also treated to a special tribute to Audrey Hepburn, excerpts of whose films (including BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S) were shown on the screens with Williams' music from the Sydney Pollack remake of the 1954 Billy Wilder classic SABRINA (the original starred Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and William Holden).
Following intermission, the man himself, Mr. Williams, now in his late 80's, making every time he appears at the Bowl important now, came on to lead the L.A. Phil in an avalanche of his own film music. And this is where the light sabers came into the mix. Of the near-capacity crowd of 16,000 or so, probably at least ten percent of them had light sabers; and this the darkness of the amphitheater was lit up, especially during those moments when the music from the Star Wars franchise was being performed. But there were also the unexpected parts, including his music from the 2016 Steven Spielberg-directed film version of Roald Dahl's famous children's book THE BFG (the film was shown on the screens), and his 1984 Olympic Fanfare and Theme (highlights from past Olympics were shown). The two encores were the famous Raiders March from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (released forty years ago, in 1981), and the Flying Theme from E.T. (which will celebrate its 40th anniversary next June).
As we are having one of our typical Labor Day weekend heat waves, it didn't exactly cool off...which was okay, since there was no need to carry a jacket. Of course, the mask mandate was in effect, and, save for eating and drinking, everybody in attendance cooperated (thank God!). Again, we are taking more steps towards some kind of New Normal, even though we still have issues with the virus out there. Last night's annual John Williams extravaganza was one of those steps taken.
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Post by erik on Sept 10, 2021 5:45:15 GMT -8
The final night of what has been an abbreviated summer season for me at the Hollywood Bowl had a fair amount to offer, even if it was (for some, anyway) a conventional classical program.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Marta Gardolinska, conductor Helene Grimaud, piano
Grazyna Bacewicz: OVERTURE Schumann: PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR Beethoven: SYMPHONY NO. 7
Marta Gardolinska, assistant conductor of the orchestra, was on the podium last night; and she started the proceedings with a concert overture composed back in 1943 by the early 20th century Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz. Given that this piece had no name, and was written almost eighty years ago, during a time when Bacewicz's country was occupied by the Nazis, the basic freshness of the work (as I never heard of either it or its creator) might as well have made it brand new to audiences. In style and orchestration, it had certain echoes of Prokofiev and Shostakovich, both of whom chaffed under the rule of a Russian leader (Stalin) who was in the end no less ruthless than Hitler himself. It was an eight minute piece that was fairly easy to follow.
Following a short pause, we had the appearance of one of the great pianists of our time, the French-born Helene Grimaud, onboard for the challenging Piano Concerto of Robert Schumann, a virtuoso piece that provided all that she, Ms. Gardolinska, and the orchestra could handle. Given that Schumann was a composer who suffered with bouts of depression and mental illness that led to a suicide attempt that put him in a mental hospital (where he died young at the age of 46 in 1856), it is something of a miracle that his works, especially of the orchestral variety like the A Minor piano concerto, are as highly regarded as they are in our time. In fact, this was the first time I had heard anything of Schumann's in the twenty-five years I had been going to the Bowl. Ms. Grimaud, who has made the concerto something of a specialty of hers in her career, was incredible in her playing, which would cause a lot of pianists to sweat over--and in all likelihood probably made her sweat over as well.
After intermission, Ms. Gardolinska led the L.A. Phil in Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, a forty minute-long work (in A Major) propelled by rhythm in a way that few symphonies prior to, and even since, have ever been. The dramatic vigorousness of the opening movement was followed by the famous Allegretto second movement, which has been used in a number of films in recent years, including the films THE KING'S SPEECH and KNOWING (in 2009). The third movement Scherzo was followed without even the slightest pause into the accelerated finale, done with exuberance and almost volcanic energy, putting the cap on a great, if shortened, summer season for me at the Bowl, in which masking was the order of the night each of my five times.
An interesting side note: During intermission and throughout the performance of the Beethoven 7th, I and the rest of the audience could see at least sixteen different flashes of lightning emanating from beyond the Hollywood sign; this was the result of the same kind of tropical monsoonal moisture that frequently makes its presence known in Southern California, and indeed most of the Southwest during the summer months. It was a bit scary, since it was fairly close to us and more than a little bit visible. Fortunately, the storm cell passed us by and probably lit up most of the San Fernando Valley, thought the downdrafts from it did create a cooling breeze that dropped the temperature down some fifteen degrees during the performance. This was a pretty unique way to wrap up this year's concert-going experience, especially after having gone through 2020 without that because of COVID.
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Post by erik on Jun 4, 2022 9:57:04 GMT -8
Last night was the start of my twenty-fifth year of summer concerts outdoors at L.A.'s vaunted Hollywood Bowl; and it also marked the centennial of the Bowl's existence.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Gustavo Dudamel, conductor Robert Bolle, dancer Tiler Peck, dancer Branford Marsalis, saxophone Eric Revis, double bass Matthew Howard, vibraphone Maria Duenas, violin Let It Happen with Novena Carmel Youth Orchestra Los Angeles UCLA Marching Band USC Marching Band Gwen Stefani, special guest
John Williams: CENTENNIAL OVERTURE Stravinsky: VARIATION OF APOLLO + PAS DE DEUX/FROM "APOLLO MUSAGETE" John Williams: ESCAPADES SUITE/FROM "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN" Ravel: TZIGANE (FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA)
(intermission)
Gwen Stefani, YOLA, Novena Carmel, Let It Happen, UCLA + USC Bands
This was quite a massive way to mark a century of the existence of the Hollywood Bowl as arguably the premiere outdoor concert venue in America; but it is only fitting, given that the Bowl lost 2020 to the COVID-19 pandemic. The night began with surprise guest and uber-legend John Williams being invited by Maestro Dudamel to conduct his own "Centennial Overture", which he had composed specifically for this night. The crowd, estimated to be at 87% capacity with mask-wearing being strongly recommended, was in thrall to this work. We then had dancers Robert Bolle and Tiler Peck dance two sequences from Igor Stravinsky's neo-classical 1928 ballet Apollo Musagete; for the purposes of this piece, the orchestra consisted only of strings, and it was a great reminder that ballet has had its place in the Bowl's 100-year history. Branford Marsalis came on next, joined by the orchestra's principal double bassist Eric Revis, and percussionist Matthew Howard on vibraphone for the "Escapades Suite" that John Williams composed for director Steven Spielberg's 2002 neo-Hitchcock caper film Catch Me If You Can, a mix of Williams' typically classic movie scoring style and jazz. The first half concluded with Spanish-born violinist Maria Duenas playing Maurice Ravel's Gypsy-influenced "Tzigane", a highly challenging and virtuosic piece that is basically a one-movement violin concerto in everything but name, and something that she pulled off with extreme aplomb.
Following intermission, things were handed over first to the inner-city rap group Let It Happen and Novena Carmel, followed by the night's special guest Gwen Stefani. Gwen, who is remembered as the lead singer for No Doubt and for being a judge on NBC's The Voice, proceeded to do a number of her big hits, including "Nobody But You" (with her hubby, Blake Shelton}; "Don't Speak"; and "Just A Girl". And then....well folks, the Bowl's shell was metaphorically blown off when she did "Hollaback Girl", with the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, and the marching bands from both USC and UCLA (YIPE!!!!!!). The USC and UCLA contingents were so big that they couldn't fit onto the Bowl stage, and proceeded to extend out into the front five sections of the audience; and the song, extended to eleven minutes, was accompanied by such a huge fireworks display. Due to the inversion layer and the low overcast above the Bowl, the smoke from the pyrotechnics stayed close to the ground, though that was the only bothersome thing. For this evening, I was seated at almost the top of the Bowl. and had a near-total unobstructed view of the scene.
While the threat of a possible uptick in COVID does hang over this summer in Los Angeles, here is hoping it doesn't affect things for those of us who like spending a couple of hours in the outdoors with great music. I especially hope so, given this was the first of eight such nights for me this summer.
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Post by eaglemaster on Jun 6, 2022 0:48:28 GMT -8
I very much like how you, Eric, are always so enthusiastic when describing concert events that you attended. I do hope that you will continue to enjoy such endeavours.
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