Pianist, in Pasadena Debut, Signals a Super-star on the Horizon
A cool afternoon brought a good-sized crowd to Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena (and equally hefty numbers attending Saturday evening, I am told) to hear the Pasadena Symphony debut of guest conductor Nicholas McGegan and pianist Nareh Arghamanyan. McGegan, an old hand at conducting (though a young 62), robustly took command of the, perhaps, 50 musicians, [...]
California Dreamin’ Not so Dreamy for Composer Mark Abel’s new CD
CD REVIEW… California Dreamin’ Not so Dreamy for Composer Mark Abel Mark Abel has concluded that California is a state of shallow people and uses his latest CD effort, “The Dream Gallery, Seven California Portraits”, to be released Tuesday on the Delos label, to let all his compositional anger out in an aggressive attack on [...]
Technique and Style a Winning Combination at Camerata Pacifica
REVIEW… Camerata Pacifica’s ensemble added British oboist Nicholas Daniel and Korean percussionist Ji Hye Jung and pianist Adam Neiman for a program that contained equal parts of stunning technique with broad-brush style in their Tuesday night concert (March 6) at The Huntington Library in San Marino. The program, heavy on contemporary compositions, offered three [...]
A Glittering Night of Passionate Music in Store for Pasadena Symphony Feb 18
Pasadena Symphony will pull out all the emotional stops as it presents its second of four classical concerts at Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena, in two performances, 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 18. The Symphony Association has selected the title “Seductive Scheherazade” which may have a certain plebian attraction, but honestly, it overlooks the balance [...]
Violinist Armstrong a Winner all-the-way With LA Chamber
REVIEW… Young, lithe, violinist Nigel Armstrong stole the hearts of the packed house at Alex Theatre in Glendale Saturday night with his taut performance of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G-major performed with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. The 21 year-old, recently graduated from the Colburn School of Performing Arts is now studying at [...]
No Steinway in the Parlor? Let Jeffrey Biegel Perform the Christmas Songs
CD REVIEW… Jeffrey Biegel is currently on the piano faculty at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College and his latest recording, “A Steinway Christmas Album” attests to his brilliant playing. Steinway and Sons proudly released this album this year on their own label. The Christmas spirit exudes from this 21-track album with varied [...]
English Songs, Carols, Ballads by Anonymous 4 in New CD
CD REVIEW……. There are dozens of Christmas albums with the 15th-century carol “The Cherry Tree” included in it but here is one with a real difference. A CD released by the harmonia mundi label with Anonymous 4 brings that carol and 16 other English and Irish songs, carols and ballads in an album that presents [...]
Christmas Music -Jeffrey Biegel at the Steinway D 9-foot Concert Grand – NEW CD Review coming
CD REVIEW…Pasadena Symphony Pianist Gloria Cheng CD a Winner
The Los Angeles Times has discovered that our local musicians are regularly performing contemporary music. Over the past two weeks, four reviews have appeared with reports on, among others, the modern music series, Piano Spheres. Pasadena Symphony’s pianist, Gloria Cheng is not only an advocate of the new, but has an album you should be [...]
Quartet Plays a Trio of Songs Plus an Encore
REVIEW….. The Bryant Park Quartet offered a diverse program at The Center for the Visual and Performing Arts inAlhambraSaturday night. The New York-based group opened with Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in D-major, produced a deeply emotive version of Leos Janacek’s String Quartet No. 1 (“Kreutzer Sonata”), Claude Debussy’s String Quartet in G-minor and closed [...]
