By Nestor CASTIGLIONE There are few moments in music that equal the poignancy of the final pages of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Goldberg Variations.” It’s a journey that begins in the exquisitely poised “Aria,” treks across a panoply of 30 variations on that theme, and finally ends right back where it started, with a note-for-note reprise […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE European civilization by 1913 was a society of masks. The veneer of public gentility was crumbling irrevocably in the years since the turn of the century. The music of the era – the lingua franca of post-Wagnerian sumptuousness, which at its periphery was being nipped at by the new grammar of modernism […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE The polls closed Tuesday night and the preliminary results for Glendale’s 2017 municipal election are in. With 100% of precincts reporting and with the first batch of absentee votes counted, Glendale City Council incumbents Ara J. Najarian and Zareh Sinanyan held onto their seats. Coming in third was talk show host Vrej […]
Programming – the selection of works to be played at a performance of classical music – can be crucial. In the right hands, it not only makes for an appealing spectrum of contrasting and complementing colors, but it also sets the listeners’ ears on a journey in which these works not only stand alone, but […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE On March 27, the Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit that was filed against Glendale over the erection of the “comfort women” statue in Central Park. The lawsuit was filed by Glendale resident Michiko Shiota Gingery and the Global Alliance for Historical Truth (GAHT), a non-profit group that disputes recognition of […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE People whose only knowledge of music is rooted in the expectations of pop culture may often find themselves scratching their heads as to why so many classical musicians perform the works of the greats time and again. One can attempt a “breakdown” as to how this works. But perhaps it’s best to […]
The shadows of war loomed large in the programs presented this past weekend by the Lark Musical Society and Le Salon de Musiques. In one it was a cry of outrage, a plea for peace that was heard; in the other it was the lyrical creation of a man whose career and life were displaced […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE The City of Glendale suffered a defeat in court last week, the second such before the same plaintiff and judge. On Feb. 23 Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Chalfant ruled in favor of the plaintiff, the Glendale Coalition for Better Government, finding that Glendale Water & Power (GWP) was in […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE Not a weekend passes by in Southern California when there isn’t some kind of intriguing classical music concert or other that well rewards the listener for their search. This weekend – with beloved Baroque classics, 20th century masterpieces, and somehow overlooked gems of Late Romantic chamber music among the options – promises […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” Dr. Martin Luther King once said. It’s a sentiment that carries over into other spheres, sometimes unexpectedly. War, for example. For English composer Benjamin Britten, who was a dogged and lifelong pacifist, the fact that war, especially in the 20th century, made victims […]