AROUND TOWN/MUSIC: Finales

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
This article was first published today in the above papers.

Four Southern California groups wrap up their 2010-2012 seasons during the next few weeks with major programs.

• Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concludes its season tonight at 7 p.m. in UCLA’s Royce Hall. Music Director Jeffrey Kahane conducts and also joins Concertmaster Margaret Batjer as soloists in Mendelssohn’s Concerto in D minor for Violin and Piano. The program also includes the world premiere of Derek Bermel’s Mar del Setembro (September Sea) and Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 (Prague). Information: 213/622-2001; www.laco.org

• Chorale Bel Canto joins forces with the Chancel Choir of First United Methodist Church of Pasadena, the Rio Hondo College Chamber Singers, soloists and orchestra in a performance of Verdi’s Requiem on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Pasadena’s FUMC. Stephen Gothold, who directs both Chorale Bel Canto and the Chancel Choir, will lead his combined forces. KUSC’s Kimberlea Daggy will give a preconcert lecture at 3:15 p.m. Information: www.choralebelcanto.org

• Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic will wrap their season with the final three weeks of “Brahms Unbound” at Walt Disney Concert Hall. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 2, the program will be Brahms’ Tragic Overture and Symphony No. 2 along with the U.S. premiere of Glorious Percussion by Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina. The soloists in the concerto will be the ensemble “Glorious Percussion;” the musicians performed the world premiere in September 2008 and stayed together while appropriating the concerto’s title for their name.

On May 26-29, Dudamel pairs Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 with Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3. The Gorecki work replaces the world premiere of Peter Lieberson’s Percussion Concerto; Lieberson died before he could complete the concerto.

The season concludes June 2-5 with Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 and his Double Concerto, with violinist Renaud Capuçon and his brother, cellist Gautier Capuçon, as soloists. This concerto replaces Gorecki’s Symphony No. 4; the Polish composer died last year before he could complete it.

The 2 p.m. June 5 program will also the last of the “LA Phil LIVE” series of telecasts to more than 450 movie theaters around the United States and Canada. John Lithgow will be the program host. Information: www.laphil.com

• The Los Angeles Master Chorale concludes its season next Sunday at 7 p.m. in Disney Hall as Grant Gershon and James Newton leads the Master Chorale, jazz orchestra, soloists and tap dancer Channing Cook Holmes in selections from Duke Ellington’s three Sacred Concerts.

The first of the three concerts took place in 1965 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The second occurred three years later at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and the third premiered in 1973 at Westminster Abbey in London. Ellington called them "the most important thing I have ever done.” Information: www.lamc.org

Other groups wrapping up include:
• Camerata Pacifica, Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the Huntington Library and Art Gallery in San Marino. There’s a 50% discount offer for first-time ticket buyers. Information: 805-884-8410; www.cameratapacifica.org

• La Mirada Symphony, Saturday at 8 p.m. at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Hector Salazar, the last of five conductors auditioning for the position of LMS Music Director, will lead a program of American music, beginning with a work by William Grant Still and concluding with Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2. Information: www.lamiradasymphony.com
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(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

Comments

[vibram five fingers]

The soloists in the concerto will be the ensemble “Glorious Percussion;” the musicians performed the world premiere in September 2008 and stayed together while appropriating the concerto’s title for their name.