Comments on: L.A. Phil

By: Kenny Easwaran

Kenny Easwaran — Wed, 07 Apr 2004 11:40:46 +0000

I didn’t know there was a pre-concert quartet! My family got delayed in traffic before dinner, and arrived at our seats at 8:08, which seems to be a fairly standard actual starting time for most concerts.

By: Jon Mandle

Jon Mandle — Sat, 03 Apr 2004 14:02:29 +0000

I was there on the Friday. I wasn’t too distracted by the crowd noise – I’ve been to concerts with much worse-behaved audiences, which really annoy me, and I didn’t mind applause between movements, although it surprised me. On the other hand, did you hear any of the quartet pre-concert? It was very nice, but people were moving around and to their seats during it, and their footsteps were loud!

By: Kenny Easwaran

Kenny Easwaran — Sat, 03 Apr 2004 07:17:31 +0000

I was at the same concert last Friday, when I was visiting my parents in Orange County on spring break! (Were you there on Friday or a different night?) It wasn’t just your angle – I was also disappointed with Goerne’s projection on the Mahler, and in general the Mahler didn’t live up to the Shostakovich. But I always love hearing any Mahler live. Especially in a place like that! (Though the acoustics were a bit too good – the audience sounds were much more distracting than usual, especially since LA audiences seem to be the kind that applaud between movements.)

By: Mark Barton

Mark Barton — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 12:01:49 +0000

This is so wrong – I’m an Australian who’s been reading your blog from Pasadena, but I’m in Australia on a business trip, while you’re in Pasadena. Also, I had the honour of being in the first choir ever to make noise in the Disney Concert Hall (before it even opened). It is indeed a beautiful space.

By: dsquared

dsquared — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 08:57:19 +0000

The concert was Shostakovich, Symphony no.9, and Mahler, Songs from ‘Des Knaben Wunderhorn’ sung by Matthias Goerne. The star of the show – there’s no doubt – was the building. god on a program like that I’d be trying to listen to the architecture too!

By: Kriston

Kriston — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 07:13:29 +0000

I’m encouraged by your enthusiasm, but in general, I think Americans are entirely too ready to appease Gehry’s vision. His firm has done great things for architecture; his mathematical-modeling advances might be worth study alone even were he not executing buildings. At the same time the extensive intellectual capital required to produce one of his works mean that the visible ingenuity of his design has tapered off. I wonder about the wisdom of granting him major commissions in so many American cities. The newt two years will see major pieces executed in both Chicago and DC, leaving, really, only NYC as a major Am city untouched by Gehry.

By: carlos

carlos — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 04:57:02 +0000

true that… but Disney Hall is beautiful… totally unlike the new cathedral. its cool but not as striking as the concert hall.

By: SomeCallMeTim

SomeCallMeTim — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 03:17:56 +0000

You tricked me – the phrase “L.A. Phil” should only be used (at least for the next two months) to reference Phil Jackson, coach of the Lakers. He’s pretty philosophical too.