How green is Thor’s Valley
Thor Steingraber, former vice president for programming for The Music Center in downtown Los Angeles, has been named the new executive director of the Valley Performing Arts Center at California State University, Northridge. CSUN’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Harry Hellenbrand heralded the occasion: “Thor is credited with the vision to blend classical ...
Fred Astaire’s songs that dance 2
If all you know of Fred Astaire is his movie dancing, the new two-CD set “Fred Astaire: The Early Years at RKO” (Turner Classic Music/Sony Masterworks) will be a revelation. With the possible exception of Bing Crosby, Astaire introduced more good songs — first on the Broadway stage, then in his movie musicals — than ...
Koehler on Cinema: the greatness, and terror, of a flood
No words, no images, no sounds can fully convey the total horror of the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927. The book that comes closest to putting you in the middle of the most widespread water disaster in American history—it stretched across the entire Mississippi River valley and west, across the river’s tributaries, affecting nearly ...
Gillian Murphy’s historic footing in “Giselle”
Jan
25
2014
“Giselle” is arguably the greatest solo role for a ballerina in the classical canon. One proof point is that unlike “Swan Lake,” the ballet is named for a woman, not a bird or a lake! “Giselle” tells the story, over a full-evening performance, of a simple peasant girl smitten, then devastated, by love. She uses ...
Sundays are for Chalifour
Jan
23
2014
I love hearing classical music on Sunday afternoons and there’s a particularly alluring recital upcoming Sunday Feb 9, when the sparkling and stellar concert master of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Martin Chalifour, accompanied by pianist Timothy Durkovic, offers a wonderful recital at Rolling Hills United Methodist Church in the south bay region of Los Angeles ...
Backstage intimacy from Phil Stern’s camera 1
Hollywood photographers have always had to walk a fine line. Their work is contingent on access to the celebrated, but entree hinges on trust and following implicit rules of privacy. Movie studios have always wanted their actors and directors depicted in the best possible light and they’ve rewarded those whose images flatter most. But good ...
Best of 2013 yet to play in Los Angeles
After December’s endless ‘best-of-2013’ lists (our own list here!) and January’s blitz of stories previewing upcoming 2014 movies, it may be useful to consider the movie universe from a different angle. What interesting movies premiered elsewhere in the world in 2013, but haven’t yet screened or opened to the public in Los Angeles? The answer ...
Cecil B. DeMille’s “Madam Satan,” dance-dissected, March 15 5
Delighted to announce my talk, “Theodore Kosloff & Cecil B. DeMille Meet Madam Satan” concerning the notorious early talkie-musical, co-sponsored by the American Cinematheque and the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. The “illustrated lecture” is slated for Saturday March 15, 2 pm, coupled with a screening of MADAM SATAN (MGM, 1930), at the Egyptian ...
Respect for Godard’s “Contempt”
Jan
14
2014
Laemmle Theatres and Rialto Pictures have teamed to present Rialto Pictures’ new 50th anniversary restoration of Jean-Luc Godard’s CONTEMPT (1963). The exclusive Los Angeles engagements begin Friday, January 17 at the Royal in West L.A. and Playhouse 7 in Pasadena. The director’s look at a crumbling marriage stars Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, and, ...
Maxim Vengerov @ the Barbican 1
The cultural year begins slowly and gently in London. Matthew Bourne’s bare-chested swans in feathered breeches will be unsettling royal emotions at Sadlers Wells until the end of the month. The glossier pantos continued frolicking into the twelfth night and their venues still regrouping for heavier fare. So for me last week was classical music ...