News and links: Surfing the Web

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News

• Upcoming seasons
I always find it interesting to look at upcoming schedules and ferret out some clues as to what local ensembles will be up to next season.
— Gustavo Dudamel will be conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic on May 24 at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall as part of the Orange County Philharmonic’s 2012-2013 season (LINK). The program includes Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major, K. 297b and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5 in D major, Op. 107 (Reformation) so I presume those two works will show up at the end of the upcoming Disney Hall season. The opening piece is labeled TBD. (LINK)

— Dudamel and the LAPO will be appearing on the “Great Performers” series at New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The March 27 concert will be the New York premiere of John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, which will get its first performances May 31-June 3 at Disney Hall (the fact that it’s being listed as the “NY premiere” would seem to indicate that the oratorio is going to be performed on a tour that includes more than the Big Apple). The March 28 NY concert includes Zipangu by Québec composer Claude Vivier, Debussy’s La Mer, and the 1945 version of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, so you can expect to see those on the Disney Hall schedule as well. (LINK)

We’ll get fuller details next week when the Phil’s 2012-2013 season is due to be released.

— Dudamel will also be appearing on the upcoming Carnegie Hall season, leading his Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela in two Latin America-themed concerts (LINK). Some of the music has been performed by the L.A. Phil in recent seasons; some of it may show up this year, as well.

• Los Angeles Opera names Grant Gershon Resident Conductor
LAO’s 2012-2013 season is due to be released imminently but this week it announced that Gershon been elevated to this new post beginning July 1 and continuing through the next two seasons.

Gershon, who is also music director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, has been LAO’s associate conductor since 2007. He’s the first person to hold the resident conductor post since Randall Behr in 1985. In addition to conducting one of the 2012-2013 productions, Gershon will work more closely with General Director Plácido Domingo and Music Director James Conlon in planning future seasons. Gershon conducted the world premiere of Daniel Catán’s Il Postino last season and has also led productions at Santa Fe Opera.
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(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.