Christian Hertzog

A trippy shadow play reveals the fates of Guildenstern and Rosencrantz in Monkey Wrench Collective's reinterpretation of Hamlet; Credit: Benjamin Tyrrel

Hamlet Takes Over a Lavish Beachfront Mansion

Christian Hertzog
Claudius is marrying his late brother’s wife, Gertrude, and you’re invited to their wedding. Outside Casa Romantica, a gorgeous old Spanish Colonial house overlooking San Clemente pier, an unctuous poser named Rosencrantz greets you. Entering the casa, you walk past a creepy Goth dude whom you later learn is Gertrude’s......
Arthur Miller (Lee Gregory) and Marilyn Monroe (Jamie Chamberlin) in a brief moment of happiness.; Credit: Keith Ian Polakoff

Why Is This Marilyn Monroe Opera So Un-Sexy?

Christian Hertzog
Marilyn Forever sounds like the title of a campy revue at the Cavern Club, but Long Beach Opera’s production at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro is a morose meditation on stardom, sex and self-destruction. Unfortunately, this U.S. premiere never comes together. Is it the fault of Marilyn Bowering’s......
Walt Disney Concert Hall transformed for Refik Anadol's video to Ameriques by Edgard Varese; Credit: Refik Anadol

A Concert That Turns the Inside of Disney Hall Into Video Art

Christian Hertzog
Plenty of great composers moved to the United States, but does anyone have a more striking story of immigration than the French-born Edgard Varese? Hailed by his elders — including Debussy and Strauss — as Europe’s greatest young composer, with most of his life’s work stuck behind enemy lines in......
Transylvanian hoedown! Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances given the Stradivarius treatment by (left to right) Cho-Liang Lin

A Concert With Five Stradivariuses

Christian Hertzog
Is there any instrument in classical music with more mystique than a violin made by Antonio Stradivari? Sherlock Holmes owned and played one. A critically well-received film, The Red Violin, was inspired by a Strad. The recent story of a Milwaukee violinist tazed and robbed of a Stradivarius startled and......
A rehearsal for a Hammer Museum performance that will combine Terry Riley's minimalist masterwork In C with a swam of of these balloon men.; Credit: Courtesy of the Hammer Museum

A Neophyte's Guide to the Minimalist Jukebox Festival

Christian Hertzog
In 2006 the L.A. Philharmonic did something no other orchestra in the world had done: a survey of minimalist music. Curated by one of the leading practitioners of the style, John Adams, the Minimalist Jukebox Festival resurrected forgotten but crucial works, touched on classics and showcased newer takes on one......