Email Author Mary Beth Crain

2009 Stories by Mary Beth Crain

• WATTS NEW

  published December 31, 2009

  The Los Angeles Philharmonic and Andre Watts ring in the New Year at Disney Hall with Bramwell Tovey conducting two beloved war horses: Ralph... More >>

• From Borge to Budginas

  published December 31, 2009

  He's been described as a classical version of Jon Brion, but I'd call him today's version of Victor Borge. Watching Lithuanian-born concert... More >>

• D'ANGLEBERT IS COMING TO TOWN

  published December 17, 2009

  Everybody's heard of Francois Couperin, the father of French baroque keyboard music. But how many of us know the name Jean-Henri d'Anglebert --... More >>

• CAN YOU HANDEL THE HIGH NOTES?

  published December 17, 2009

  Desperation is the source of inspiration, they say, and nowhere is this better illustrated than in the case of Handel's Messiah. In 1741, the... More >>

• Inspirational Moosic

  published December 10, 2009

  As a little girl, Emily Dickinson displayed a keen gift for music, or, as she called it, "the moosic." So, it's not surprising that her verse... More >>

• Bartok, Bremel and Beyond

  published December 10, 2009

  Composer/clarinetist Derek Bermel shares many things with Bela Bartok, the Hungarian composer who inspired his orchestral piece, A Shout, a... More >>

• VIVA BUENOS AIRES!

  published December 3, 2009

  While you're undoubtedly familiar with Vivaldi's Four Seasons, which ranks right up there with Pachelbel's Canon as one of the most overplayed... More >>

• WALKING IN A MANILA WONDERLAND

  published December 3, 2009

  What's a handog, you ask? Hint: It doesn’t have anything to do with a wiener and a bun. Handog Ng FASO Sa Pasko is Filipino for "FASO’s... More >>

• YOU HAVE FOUND IT!

  published November 26, 2009

  John Adams has curated the Los Angeles Philharmonic's "West Coast, Left Coast" festival, and, as you might expect, it's full of the most original... More >>

• AS THE TAMERLANO TURNS

  published November 26, 2009

  George Fridric Handel was the Orson Welles of the English music scene, conquering London in 1711 at age 25 with the first of his 39 operas,... More >>

• MY OH MAYDAY!

  published November 13, 2009

  Although Benjamin Britten was a notorious depressive and neurotic perfectionist, he managed to compose one of the funniest and most outrageous of... More >>

• TAKE THE FIFTH TOUR

  published November 5, 2009

  Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. You've heard it a million times. But when Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra music director Jeffrey Kahane takes you on a... More >>

• HERSHEY'S KISHEF

  published November 5, 2009

  "I'm proud to be a Jew on the stage," Hershey Felder says. The Canadian-born pianist/composer/actor/producer, who comes from a family of rabbis --... More >>

• WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER TRIO

  published October 29, 2009

  As a musical form, the trio was not high on the 18th century popularity list. In fact, in Beethoven's Vienna, it was tough to even drum up a... More >>

• CALIGARI, HERE WE COME!

  published October 22, 2009

  The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari heralded in the era of German Expressionism in film, and became, in the process, one of the most influential... More >>

• A HARD CHAIN IS GONNA COME

  published October 22, 2009

  It takes more than talent to pull off Witold Lutoslawski's Chain compositions -- it takes huevos. The Polish composer wrote three... More >>

• Warning: Contents May Be Haute

  published October 15, 2009

  In the often vague and ever-evolving music genre known as contemporary classical, it's both easy and hard to make your mark. On the one hand, just... More >>

• EXTRAORDINARY, BUT NOT REALLY UNIQUE

  published October 15, 2009

  That "unique and extraordinary" organization known as Chamber Music Palisades charges into its 2009-2010 season with an ambitious program that... More >>

• LUDWIG VON HOTSHOT

  published October 8, 2009

  A Murray Perahia recital is an event no self-respecting classical piano aficionado would miss, unless he were 6,000 miles away or six feet under.... More >>

• IF YOU KNEW LINDA . .

  published October 8, 2009

  Among the most popular names in my generation, the '50s, Linda was certainly in the Top 10. I had about 10 friends named Linda. Linda Bauman,... More >>

• BEST TREAT YOU'RE IN FOR

  published October 1, 2009

  It's old home week for USC Thornton School alumnus Michael Tilson Thomas, who returns to his alma mater this week for a down-memory-lane tribute.... More >>

• A JOURNEY VIA PIANO

  published September 24, 2009

  Mexico-based new music pianist Ana Cervantes tends to garner raves everywhere she performs. Part of the reason for that is her "enormous passion"... More >>

• THE LAMEST CLASSICAL PICK EVER WRITTEN

  published September 17, 2009

  Attention all Baroque music lovers! It's an offer you won't want to pass up! The Angeles Consort in an afternoon of heart-warming, toe-tapping... More >>

• WE DARE YOU TO READ THIS!

  published September 17, 2009

  It's billed as an "opera-no opera." Get it? Yes? No? Actually, it sounds like an oleo of musical/theatrical styles, forms and traditions from... More >>

• OH, THOSE FRENCH AND THEIR ROVING KNIGHTS

  published September 10, 2009

  Les Paladins, Jean-Philippe Rameau's 1760 comic opera-ballet that combines fable, fantasy and buffoonery, is considered the composer's... More >>