STORY AND LINKS: 2012 Hollywood Bowl season announced

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

Reflecting the economic reality of ticket sales, the 2012 Hollywood Bowl season, officially announced today, continues to add non-classical programs to what will again be a 14-week season. The Cahuenga Pass amphitheatre’s 91st season begins June 22 with the annual Hollywood Bowl of Fame induction concert and concludes Sept. 22 with the now-traditional Sing-A-Long Sound of Music screening of the iconic film.

All but one of the Friday-Saturday programs are in the non-classical category (the exception is the annual “Tchaikovsky Spectacular” programs on Sept. 7 and 8) and just two of the Sunday concerts are classically oriented, both conducted by LA Phil Music Director Gustavo Dudamel.

There’s nothing nefarious about this slow creep. Proceeds from Bowl ticket sales account for a significant portion of the Phil’s annual income stream and “pops” fare sells better than classical. This year’s non-classical concerts include jazz, world music, movie music and Broadway shows and other popular genres; among the artists are Herbie Hancock, Barry Manilow, and Liza Minnelli. Along with The Sound of Music, the movie evenings include a tribute to Paramount Pictures’ 100th anniversary and an program of music from Pixar films (e.g., Toy Story).

The 10-week classical season of Tuesday and Thursday concerts begins July 10 and has several big-name soloists on the agenda. As he did last summer, Dudamel will conduct two weeks of concerts. The last two people to hold the title of Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl — Leonard Slatkin and Bramwell Tovey — will lead concerts along with the Phil’s Resident Conductor, Lionel Bringuier.

Returning guest maestros will be Ludovic Morlot, Rafael Frubeck de Burgos, Stéphane Denève, and Nicholas McGegan. The one debut conductor is 28-year-old Krysztof Urbanski, who began this season as music director of the Indianapolis Symphony.

Dudamel will reprise his “Americas and the Americans” concept that was part of his first Walt Disney Concert Hall season in 2010 with concerts on Aug. 14 and 16. Thomas Wilkins, principal guest conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and the HBO will appear as part of this survey on Aug. 17 and 18 and Dudamel will conclude the “festival” and his two-week Bowl stint on Sunday, Aug. 19, leading the Phil in a concert that will feature Plácido Domingo as soloist.

The week before, Dudamel will lead the Phil on Aug. 7 in a program of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 and Schumann’s Cello Concerto, with Yo-Yo Ma as soloist. The Aug. 9 concert will pair Tchaikovsky’s 4th and his first piano concerto with Yuja Wang as soloist. The Aug. 12 “Sunday Sunset” concert will be a concert performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto, with Željko Lučić singing the title role.

You can get the complete schedule HERE (when you click on an individual concert, you’ll see more details about each performance). There’s also a print icon at the top of the page.

New season subscription sales begin today (renewals were sent earlier); single tickets go on sale May 5. Season subscribers get first crack at the non-subscription concerts before tickets to the latter are offered to the general public. Information: 323/850-2000; www.hollywoodbowl.com

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(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.