By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
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Each Thursday morning, I list five events that pique my interest, including (ideally) at least one with free admission (or, at a minimum, inexpensive tickets). Here’s today’s grouping:
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• Today at 8 p.m., Tomorrow at 11 a.m., Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Miguel-Harth Bedoya, conductor; Jean-Yves Thibaudet, pianist
The L.A. Phil swings back into action with a program of 19th century music that includes Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Saint-Saéns Symphony No. 3 (Organ). My preview article on the concert is HERE. Information: www.laphil.com
• Friday at 8 p.m. at Alan Goldman’s Mt. Washington Performance Space
Piano Theater: Elizabeth and Soya Schumann
Both of these pianists have won competitions and Elizabeth Schumann received a Gilmore Award so their credentials seem well established. The program includes Saint-Saéns Carnival of the Animals. I have no idea what the performance space is but it sounds intriguing. The duo has other Southland performances listed on the flyer. Information: www.palosverdes.com
• Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at San Gabriel Mission Playhouse
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
New Year’s celebrations mean Strauss waltzes in Vienna and Auld Lang Syne in NYC’s Times Square, but in Japan it means hundreds of performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Jeffrey Bernstein hopes to recreate the magic by joining his Pasadena Master Chorale with the Los Angeles Daiku Orchestra ("The Japanese word 'daiku' is translated literally as 'the great nine' and often refers to Beethoven’s 9th," says Bernstein) for a performance of this most famous of symphonies. BTW: you may know the venue as the San Gabriel Civic Auditorium; it’s been renamed. Information: www.pasadenamasterchorale.org
• Ongoing at Geffen Playhouse, Westwood
Red Hot Patriot: The Kick Ass Wit of Molly Ivins
This 75-minute performance by Kathleen Turner includes many of the famous stories and lines that made the late, legendary, liberal newspaper columnist beloved of those whose political bent leans to the left. If you’re of that persuasion and don’t know who the saucy, bawdy Texan was (she died in 2007), it’s a chance to see what you missed for decades. If you’re a Republican who loved Ronald Reagan and George Bush (Sr. and “Shrub,” as Ivins termed George W.), you won’t appreciate it nearly as much. The show runs through Feb. 12. Information: www.geffenplayhouse.com
And the weekend’s “free admission” program …
• Friday at 9 p.m. and Sunday at 11 p.m. on PBSSoCal (formerly KOCE) television
Los Angeles Philharmonic Gala Concert
This “Great Performances” telecast features the L.A. Phil’s gala concert that opened the 2011-2012 Disney Hall season last September. The program is all-Gershwin: An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue, with jazz legend Herbie Hancock as the soloist. The TV schedule says that the program will also include one of the two improvisations on Gershwin tunes (Someone to Watch Over Me) that Hancock performed in September. Apparently the one-hour telecast will not include the Cuban Overture that opened the gala or the other improv (Embraceable You) that Hancock played that night. Information: www.pbs.org
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(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.
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