From the Salzburg Festival in 2008, Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela in the last two movements — “The Hut on Fowl’s Legs (Baba-Yaga)” and “The Great Gate of Kiev” — of Mussorgsky/Ravel’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” This is what we’re in for, folks, starting in a couple of weeks. I’d say it’s worth getting excited about. As someone once said, “I’ll have what he’s having.”
Which, I suppose, is this.
related link: fall arts: the best of classical music
The Bowers Museum is now displaying one of the largest, finest emerald crystals in the world.
“El Itoco” is a 472-carat emerald crystal from the Muzo region in Colombia. It’s named after the river that flows through the area. Some value the 4-inch long crystal at $3 1/2 million.
“It is the largest gem-quality crystal to have come from the historical mining area in Colombia in a very long time,” said Bowers President Peter Keller in a statement. “A gem-quality emerald crystal of this size and quality is extremely rare. The four-inch hexagonal crystal possesses a color equivalent to the finest emerald.”
“El Itoco” goes on view at the same time as Colombian artist Fernando Botero has an extensive, six-decade retrospective at the Bowers.
The crystal will be on display at the Bowers through December 2009. It’s in the last gallery of the Botero exhibit. One can learn more about the gem in a group tour by e-mailing grouptours@bowers.org or by calling 714-567-3680.
It’s been a long time since Matthew Modine’s heartthrob days but the actor continues to do offbeat and fascinating work, onscreen and off. Recently he finished a stint as Atticus Finch in a stage version of “To Kill a Mockingbird” back east. Now he’s playing himself — sort of — in “Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas,” a new play about celebrity, publicity and the weird pas de deux they perform. It opens this week at the Geffen Playhouse.
Read my interview with Modine.
Related stories in the Arts Blog:
Matthew Modine attracts Hollywood’s alpaca activists
Broadway veteran Harry Groener (right) weighs in on the trials and joys of performing Stephen Sondheim in a recent talk with me. He stars in Sondheim’s “Putting It Together,” which opens South Coast Repertory’s 2009-10 season this weekend.
Read my interview with Groener.
In case you didn’t hear the sad news over the weekend, accomplished photographer and longtime professor Jerry Burchfield died Friday, after a long struggle with cancer. He was 62.
Jerry was a great guy, patient yet passionate, and extremely generous with his time, knowledge and expert’s eye. He helped me numerous times with his photographic insight, and recently let me visit his Irvine home to have a look at his vast collections, plus his cool darkroom, which he built into the attic.
I also recall being a photo judge with him at the O.C. Fair a few year back. Jerry favored the unconventional and the different over the standard pretty pictures of people, animals and landscapes — which are more than plentiful at the fair.
Before his death, Burchfield planned an exhibit, “Distance,” at the Biola University Art Gallery for Sept. 22-Oct. 15. According to gallery director Barry Krammes, the show is still going on, but it will be expanded beyond its original humanity vs. nature theme. The university has conferred with Burchfield’s family and a major collector of his; as a result, the exhibit will be expanded to include more works over his illustrious career.
CONCERT REVIEW: Co-gold medalist Haochen Zhang makes Tchaikovsky concerto his own; assistant conductor Maxim Eshkenazy gets his chance. By PAUL BODINE. Special to the Register, Sept. 14, 2009.
A still from Gao Shiqiang’s “Butterfly Lovers,” on view at the Orange County Museum of Art starting Oct. 11.
We’ve been working diligently at determining and compiling the best during the fall arts season and beyond. The results have been posted online and in the paper version of The Orange County Register.
So here it is, the best in visual art for 2009-10. Enjoy.
Related links:
Get great gift ideas for everyone on your list! Visit The Orange County Register's Holiday Gift Guide.
From your favorite restaurants and shops to the best day spa in town, here are your choices for the number one places to eat, shop and play in O.C.
