August 31st, 2009, 6:16 pm by Timothy Mangan, music critic

The Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, will join conductor Ivor Bolton and the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra to perform the United States premiere of Kurt Schwertsik’s “Herr K. endeckt Amerika” (Mr. K. discovers America) Oct. 22 and 23 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.
The work is part of the Mozarteum ensemble’s 2 Orchestras project which aims is to commission new works for joint performance by youth and professional orchestras. The Mozartuem Orchestra plans to commission five such new works in the next few years, with the world premieres to take place in Salzburg through 2016. After the premiere of each work, other orchestras will be allowed to perform them.
“The young musicians share desks with the professionals, and even less experienced young players will be able to manage the compositions for
2 ORCHESTRAS,” the Web site for the project states.
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August 31st, 2009, 2:50 pm by Timothy Mangan, music critic
Someone named “rmannion” has been posting videos on YouTube which show the score of a classical piece as it is performed by a famous pianist. Here is Sviatoslav Richter in 1971 performing Rachmaninoff’s Op. 32, No. 10 Prelude, as the music flips by. Why this? Well, it’s a good piece, and, for what it’s worth, it happens to be one of James Ellroy’s favorites, and his favorite recording of it.
Posted in: Classical Music by Tim Mangan • music videos | 1 Comment »
August 30th, 2009, 6:52 pm by RICHARD CHANG, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Angela Bassett, second from right, dines with friends at the Pageant of the Masters Gala Benefit Saturday night.
The Pageant of the Masters had its 11th annual Gala Benefit Saturday night.
Angela Bassett, Florence Henderson, Eve Plumb, Donna Mills, Joe Mantegna, Richie Sambora and other celebrities partied, dined and watched the 76th annual pageant.
Read all about it in The Orange County Register.
Related links:
Posted in: Visual Art by Richard Chang • Festival of Arts/Pageant of the Masters | Post a Comment »
August 29th, 2009, 9:39 am by Timothy Mangan, music critic

Reader Donald Thompson, of Huntington Beach, recently sent me some Chicago Symphony program booklets from the late ’30s and early ’40s. He attended these concerts, he said. As usual with such items, they’re fun to browse. (Click on images for larger views.) You never know what you’ll find. For instance:

An advertisement (!) for the Chicago Sun’s music critic, who also happens to be the symphony’s program annotator. You can’t do both, these days. Conflict of interest. And doesn’t he look just how you imagine a music critic should look?
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Posted in: Classical Music by Tim Mangan | 8 Comments »