By Néstor CASTIGLIONE It could be argued that Beethoven’s art exploded like a dazzling supernova in the musical firmament, his art spreading disparate elements far and wide that eventually would coalesce into various independent and clashing galaxies. The nebula in which the music of Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892 – 1988) inhabits is a solitary and forbidding […]
By Néstor CASTIGLIONE In 1948, English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was riding high upon the crest of international fame. His “Sixth Symphony” had been premiered by Sir Adrian Boult that April and the work immediately seized the public’s imagination on both sides of the Atlantic, garnering over a hundred performances in the following year – […]
By Néstor CASTIGLIONE Fortune and fame: for many, the two most glittering prizes in human existence. But as most soon learn they are also the most difficult to attain. Even if seizesd in life, they can quickly slip from one’s grasp in death. For every Beethoven or Stravinsky in music, for example, there is a […]
By Néstor CASTIGLIONE The age of automation is upon us – or so an endless array of utopian technological theologians and despairing neo-Luddites would have us believe. They say that the storm is coming and coming at us fast; a deluge of epochal proportions that will sweep away millenia-old concepts of “work” and may possibly […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE It may be thought by those who aren’t plugged into the genre that Europe is still where the new generations of classical musicians blossom. In fact, people only need look around their own city to see that the blossoming of great instrumentalists, composers and singers often happens right here in the U.S. […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE Though the only work of his on Sunday’s program is a relatively minor one, it’s Tchaikovsky’s spirit that looms largest in Le Salon de Musiques’ January program. The Russian composer’s “Souvenir d’un lieu cher” will be the nexus of the concert, which takes place Sunday, Jan. 21 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE It is one of those curious curveballs in history that, despite the centuries in which it was at the summit of global power, Spain’s imprint on classical music was surprisingly weak. Composers it had – and very innovative ones at that ¬– during the Age of Exploration, both at home and in […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE It seems that every passing year brings increasingly greater and richer musical experiences to music lovers in Southern California. If there was anything in which 2017 was pronouncedly better, it was in the amount and quality of great live music. As the twilight of 2017 dims before the auguring of 2018, I’ve […]
» Part 2 By Nestor CASTIGLIONE Shostakovich: The Gadfly (complete original score), Suite from The Counterplan (Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz/Mark Fitz-Gerald) [Naxos] – Another Shostakovich score makes a favorite pick of the year. This time it’s the world premiere recording of the complete original score to the 1957 Soviet film, “The Gadfly.” The suite compiled by the […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE After more than a quarter of a century in law enforcement, the Jewel City’s top cop will be moving on. In a press release that was sent early Friday afternoon to local media, the City of Glendale announced the retirement of Glendale Police (GPD) Chief Robert Castro. His four-year stint as the […]