Christian Hertzog

Frank Zappa; Credit: Photo courtesy the Zappa Estate

Is Disney Hall Ready For an Evening of Uncensored Frank Zappa?

Christian Hertzog
When an orchestra celebrates a milestone, it premieres a new composition. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the L.A. Philharmonic's home, Walt Disney Concert Hall, works were commissioned from big-shot composers such as Magnus Lindberg, Peter Lieberson, and Brett Dean. But another world premiere there this month is stealing attention......
Credit: photo by Christian Hertzog

Long Beach Symphony Orchestra Tries to Be Hip — And Fails

Christian Hertzog
How do you get millennials into classical music concerts? Without young ticket buyers, who will patronize classical when the current generation of donors and attendees (most born in the mid-20th century) pass away? Organizations have responded by trying to make the classical music experience more like going out to a......
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The Best Classical Concerts to See in L.A. This Fall

Christian Hertzog
Sat. Oct. 20 Jacaranda: Different Islands First Presbyterian Santa Monica Herman Melville's prose is nearly impossible to transmute into music (George Rochberg and Jake Heggie failed the challenge), but in The Encantadas, Tobias Picker conjures an appropriate accompaniment to depict "the special curse" of the Galapagos Islands. In City Life,......
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Is This Tom Waits' First LP?

Christian Hertzog
Could Tom Waits be one of the trumpeters on this old junior high school band recording? A 1964 album by a Chula Vista junior high concert band -- an ensemble in which the songwriter is known to have performed -- is now listed on eBay, and could well be his......
Gustavo Dudamel conducts Rigoletto at the Hollywood Bowl with Zeljko Lucic (far left) as Rigoletto and Irina Lungu (second from left) as Gilda; Credit: Mathew Imaging Corp

Rigoletto – Hollywood Bowl – August 12, 2012

Christian Hertzog
Rigoletto The Hollywood Bowl 8/12/12 Better than... the guy outside the Bowl with a dog puppet doing a one-man a capella version of Handel's Hallelujah chorus. Most American orchestras coast during their summer season with puffery such as symphonic arrangements of Pink Floyd, Broadway show tunes, or backing second-tier geezer......