classical music – Page 22 – The Pacific Symphony Blog

Interview: Carl St.Clair remembers Leonard Bernstein (Part 1)

By TIMOTHY MANGAN Carl St.Clair was sitting at a table outside a popular cafe in downtown Laguna Beach when we met with him the other day. He had musical scores spread out on the table in front of him, and

Director’s note for ‘The Magic Flute’

“The Magic Flute” is Mozart’s final opera and one of his last compositions. It premiered in Vienna in September 1791 and Mozart died a mere two months later. Despite being sick, hungry, broke and altogether miserable, Mozart’s music is some

Audio: Klemperer conducts the Overture to ‘The Magic Flute’

Here’s one of my favorite recordings of Mozart’s Overture to “The Magic Flute,” with the Philharmonia conducted by Otto Klemperer. It’s stately but never heavy, and finely detailed. https://ia801709.us.archive.org/23/items/MagicFluteOvertureklemperer/1-01Mozart_DieZauberflteK620-Overture.mp3 Carl St.Clair and Pacific Symphony give three semi-staged performances of “The

The daily routine of a master musician

Every artist should develop some sort of daily routine to further his or her art. Here, below, is the daily routine of the Swedish conductor/composer/trombonist Christian Lindberg. Regimented and extreme but effective, no doubt. And he seems a happy chap.

Symphonic progressivism, 1896

I came across the program above quite by chance the other day, during another search (I don’t even remember what I was looking for). It’s rather astounding. In our own time, symphony orchestras have come to be seen as conservative

Janacek: Sinfonietta

Trumpets, lots of trumpets. I like how the cameraman slowly reveals them. Rafael Kubelik conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the first two movements of Janacek’s wondrous Sinfonietta.

Pacific Symphony 40th season announcement

By TIMOTHY MANGAN Music director Carl St.Clair and President John Forsyte unveiled plans today for Pacific Symphony’s 40th anniversary classical season in 2018-19. The schedule includes eight subscription programs (in multiple performances) conducted by St.Clair, who celebrates his 29th season

Rules for young conductors

For those of you who ever wonder what, exactly, a conductor does (and for those who are just curious), we offer you Rules for Young Conductors by the conductor and teacher Pierre Monteux. These won’t answer every question you might

Neglected symphony: Symphony No. 3 by Franz Berwald

Here’s another offering in my neglected symphony series, the Symphony No. 3, “Sinfonie singuliere,” by the Swedish composer Franz Berwald (1796-1868). Why is it neglected, you ask? I don’t think you can say it has anything to do with the