MUSIC REVIEWS
The Blistering Virtuosity of Paquito D’Rivera
La Jolla Music Society offered a unique program featuring the Cuban-born woodwind master Paquito D’Rivera in several alluring combinations with other SummerFest artists . . .
Read MoreMaisky’s Transcendent, Romantic Approach to J. S. Bach
Cellist Mischa Maisky, a protégé of the late Mstislav Rostropovich, brought his solo recital of three J. S. Bach Suites for Unaccompanied Cello to SummerFest 2016 . . .
Read MoreA Spiritual Journey With Messiaen As Guide
Among the few pivotal works of chamber music from the first half of the last century, nothing touches Olivier Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” for its combination of radical technique and sumptuous beauty. Written under grim conditions—in 1941 the composer was a prisoner-of-war in a German stalag near Dresden—it is nevertheless an audacious…
Read MoreA Bouquet of SummerFest Commissions
On Sunday (August 14) La Jolla SummerFest 2016 offered a program devoted to chamber music commissioned by the festival, some recent and some from previous seasons . . .
Read MoreImpressive Opera NEO Production Brings Mozart Up to Date
Opera NEO’s compelling “Don Giovanni” production brimmed over with insights and creative approaches that have marked the company’s sparkling previous productions. A cast of young, well-trained singers proved more than equal to the challenges of one of Mozart’s most daunting scores . . .
Read MoreMusic in Avant-Garde Vienna a Century Ago
Friday’s La Jolla SummerFest program featured chamber music from the exciting but contradictory musical landscape of Vienna during the first half of the 20th century–Korngold, Webern and Zemlinsky . . .
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