Here’s your roundup of Pacific Symphony concerts in November, on the quick, mobile-friendly, with links to single tickets. There are 11 concerts in all during the month. It starts with a tribute to the great Ella Fitzgerald on the pops
Classical cover: Borodin’s ‘Polovtsian Dances’
The 1953 musical “Kismet” used the melodies of Russian composer Alexander Borodin (1833-1887), adapted and given different words by Robert Wright and George Forrest. One of the tunes, from the “Polovtsian Dances,” became a popular song called “Stranger in Paradise.”
Pacific Symphony tubist releases new recording
Longtime Pacific Symphony tubist Jim Self has released a new recording. Like several others of Self’s recordings, this one is jazz. It’s called “Floating in Winter,” and it features both originals and standards. With John Chiding on guitars, Self plays tuba
The making of a Bruckner 8
Coming up Nov. 9-11, Carl St.Clair will lead Pacific Symphony in its first ever performances of Anton Bruckner’s colossal Symphony No. 8. The performances will include a design element, which Carl talks about above, on a recent visit to the
Playlist: Great moments in Bruckner (scherzos) from YouTube
Carl St.Clair and Pacific Symphony give the orchestra’s first performances of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 on Nov. 9-11. To help you prepare, we’ve selected four wonderful examples of Bruckner’s music (all of them scherzos) from YouTube.
Video: Toscanini conducts ‘Pines”
An oldie but a goodie, Toscanini conducting the end of Respighi’s “The Pines of Rome,” orchestra and maestro about to jump out of their collective skin. How could you not play for this guy?
Audio: Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 9
One of the earlier of Mozart’s masterpieces, the Piano Concerto No. 9, K. 271, completed when he was 21. Here’s an exceptional performance from the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields conducted by Neville Marriner, with Alfred Brendel at
Audio: Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 7
I won’t categorize this as a “neglected symphony,” but it doesn’t turn up on concert programs that often, especially when you consider how good it is. The piece is in a single movement; it’s the last symphony Sibelius wrote (in
Bergmann takes over for Previn, premiere and all
By TIMOTHY MANGAN “Jumping in as a replacement is always scary and fun at the same time,” conductor Rune Bergmann said recently, on the phone from Calgary. The lively and amiable Norwegian musician, the new music director of the Calgary
Video: Overture to ‘Die Fledermaus’
Pacific Symphony opens its Pops season tonight and tomorrow with a program headlined by David Foster. But conductor Albert-George Schram and the orchestra begin the program with the Overture to “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss, Jr., which for my money