Email Author Mary Beth Crain

2010 Stories by Mary Beth Crain

• Los Angeles Philharmonic

  published December 30, 2010

  The Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by Dynamo Dudamel, kicks off its winter season with a creative program that's a study in contrasts:... More >>

• INTIMATE AMAHL

  published December 16, 2010

  Early television programming often was of an amazingly high cultural standard. Kraft Television Theater, Playhouse 90, Philco Television... More >>

• GO JUMP IN A MONOLAKE

  published September 30, 2010

  Electronic music pioneer Robert Henke isn't just a composer. He's a "sound shaper." And he doesn't give concerts; he gives "aural events." Like... More >>

• DOING LUNCH WITH PHIL

  published September 30, 2010

  There are arts auctions, and there are arts auctions. The Long Beach Opera 2010 Gala Dinner and Auction belongs in the latter category, because... More >>

• HEY MR. POSTMAN

  published September 16, 2010

  After a year's postponement, L.A. Opera presents the world premiere of Mexican composer Daniel Catan's new opera, Il Postino. Based on the... More >>

• DANCE, MUSIC -- TOGETHER AT LAST!

  published September 2, 2010

  John Adams' Fearful Symmetries is a musical romp of sorts through various genres and tonal terrains, which is why the composer calls it an... More >>

• Eine Klein Nachtmusik

  published August 19, 2010

  When you have the chance to hear pianist Andreas Klein, consider yourself lucky. When you have a chance to hear him for free, consider yourself... More >>

• But Can They Sing "Aba Daba Honeymoon" After a Few Beers?

  published August 19, 2010

  When it comes to putting on a show, nobody beats the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles. Their programming runs the gamut of vocal music -- folk,... More >>

• SOUTHPAW STRATEGY

  published August 12, 2010

  Maurice Ravel composed his Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in 1930 for Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in combat... More >>

• GET YOUR "COMBUSTIBLE ENERGY" WITH ODEUM, NOT IMODIUM

  published August 12, 2010

  The Odeum Guitar Duo is a strange name, to be sure, conjuring dubious connotations, from odious to Imodium. But guitarists Robert Wetzel and Fred... More >>

• TURN ON, 
TUNE IN, DROP IN

  published July 22, 2010

  Okay, this one wins the award for Longest and Most Intriguing or Is That Pretentious Title of a Musical Composition. Ready? Here goes: Music... More >>

• BUT WILL IT PASS MUSTER AT UNCLE MORRIE'S FUNERAL?

  published July 8, 2010

  There is perhaps no more soaringly romantic entry in the violin repertoire than Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy. Composed in 1880, the work... More >>

• INDEPENDENTS DAY

  published July 1, 2010

  Pianist/composer/improviser Bryan Pezzone isn't a guy to march to the beat of anyone else's drummer. "The enemy of a good career is a good job,"... More >>

• SOME ENCHANTED EVENING

  published April 15, 2010

  As part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's ongoing "Americas and Americans" festival, Jacaranda: Music at the Edge presents an enchanted evening of... More >>

• Tosca-ini

  published April 15, 2010

  Tosca-ini Tosca is one of those delicious operas bulging with so many grand themes that it just has to have the gloriously fervent music to go... More >>

• OKAY BY ME IN AMERICA

  published April 1, 2010

  This week, the Los Angeles Philharmonic launches an ambitious, absorbing event guaranteed to remind us of just how vast the concept of America... More >>

• A REAL ONE-NOTE

  published April 1, 2010

  If you've never heard of Giacinto Scelsi, you're not alone. Although he'd been composing since the 1920s, this ascetic, enigmatic Italian composer... More >>

• PASSIONATE BACH

  published March 25, 2010

  When Johann Sebastian Bach applied for the position of music director at St. Thomas and St. Nicholas churches in Leipzig, he was far from being... More >>

• OH RICKY, YOU’RE SO FINE

  published March 25, 2010

  When it comes to influences, Ricky Ian Gordon can’t stop at anything, really. Since childhood, he notes, he’s been captivated by Godard,... More >>

• HE WROTE THE SONGS

  published March 18, 2010

  awEverybody knows the music of Frederic Chopin, the fellow who ushered in the romantic piano era. But who knew he wrote songs, too? Few people... More >>

• NOT SO SIMPLE SIMON

  published March 18, 2010

  When I was a piano major at Indiana University, the piano faculty was one big celebrity roster, which included Jorge Bolet, Menahem Pressler,... More >>

• HE'S SO FAIN

  published March 6, 2010

  The Bach Partita No. 2 in D minor for unaccompanied violin is one of the major rites of passage for any aspiring violinist. A suite of dances... More >>

• WIENER BOYS

  published March 6, 2010

  You could call them music's most enduring phenomena. After all, how many groups have been around since 1498? That's when Austria's Emperor... More >>

• NOISEMAKERS

  published February 26, 2010

  Ask them what their genre is, and the answer will probably be: "noise." That's what makes the musicians featured at REDCAT's annual CEAIT Festival... More >>

• RIddle Me This

  published February 26, 2010

  What do you get when you combine Fauré and Mozart, add some Bernstein and spice it up with Farber? Pacific Serenades’ version of A... More >>