Frederic Rzewski

If seen on the street, Alvin Curran and Frederic Rzewski might be mistaken for a couple of aging hipsters. Actually, that wouldn't be a mistake. The American anti-establishment composer-pianists are aging hipsters, who both turned 70 last year. But they are such important and exceptional musicians that at this point in their careers, it is no easy matter keeping the establishment at bay. They remain best known for the work they create for themselves -- Rzewski for his exhilarating, politically engaged piano pieces and Curran for his piano scores and electronic soundscapes.

If seen on the street, Alvin Curran and Frederic Rzewski might be mistaken for a couple of aging hipsters. Actually, that wouldn't be a mistake. The American anti-establishment composer-pianists are aging hipsters, who both turned 70 last year. But they are such important and exceptional musicians that at this point in their careers, it is no easy matter keeping the establishment at bay. They remain best known for the work they create for themselves -- Rzewski for his exhilarating, politically engaged piano pieces and Curran for his piano scores and electronic soundscapes.

If Sunday around 6:30, toward the end of a balmy Indian summer day, you happened to be strolling through Claremont Village and peered into an old-fashioned Italian restaurant, you might have noticed a gray-haired, bearded man sitting at the bar drinking an espresso. He was wearing a tweed jacket, a frayed worker's cap and a worn backpack.

If Sunday around 6:30, toward the end of a balmy Indian summer day, you happened to be strolling through Claremont Village and peered into an old-fashioned Italian restaurant, you might have noticed a gray-haired, bearded man sitting at the bar drinking an espresso. He was wearing a tweed jacket, a frayed worker's cap and a worn backpack.

Past musical events by the versatile, eight-member California E.A.R. Unit have often included bits of absurdist theater--something for which they have a pronounced sweet tooth. Yet at their latest performance Wednesday at Bing Theater, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, an entire evening was dedicated to their style of madcap dramatics in what proved to be a seemingly fattening indulgence.

Since the late 16th Century, it's been called opera. But these days, says Frederic Rzewski, the marriage of serious music and theater not only needs a new name, it needs a major overhaul. "Right now, we may be at a turning point in musical theater. We must invent a new form," he insists. "I'm getting away from using the term opera, " the Massachusetts-born composer says. "I just don't feel close to the operatic tradition."

Friday Evening Marathon/7 to 10 p.m. Performing at the Ojai Festivals Bowl: Rachel Rosenthal, performance artist; Joan La Barbara, soprano; Frederic Rzewski, piano; California E.A.R.

Hauled out periodically as a quaint artifact of musical times past, melodrama, a blending of poetic declamation accompanied by music, is an intriguing throwback to the eras before film and television. Pianist-composer Mark Robson brought his own work in the genre, "Initiation," to Piano Spheres at his seasonal appearance on the series, Tuesday at the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena.

The world of piano is a continuum: The ghosts of Liszt and Chopin, Czerny and Pischna, Rosina Lhevinne and Adele Marcus, among thousands of others, hover over any ambitious recital, anywhere. Those ghosts should have been pleased Tuesday night when Susan Svrcek continued the repertory-expanding Piano Spheres series at Neighborhood Church in Pasadena with two large-scale works written in the past quarter-century.

Past musical events by the versatile, eight-member California E.A.R. Unit have often included bits of absurdist theater--something for which they have a pronounced sweet tooth. Yet at their latest performance Wednesday at Bing Theater, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, an entire evening was dedicated to their style of madcap dramatics in what proved to be a seemingly fattening indulgence.

Since the late 16th Century, it's been called opera. But these days, says Frederic Rzewski, the marriage of serious music and theater not only needs a new name, it needs a major overhaul. "Right now, we may be at a turning point in musical theater. We must invent a new form," he insists. "I'm getting away from using the term opera, " the Massachusetts-born composer says. "I just don't feel close to the operatic tradition."

Never an ensemble to take its fringe status for granted, the California EAR Unit made a fittingly stage-setting entrance at its Monday Evening Concert at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Deadpanning, the musicians took the stage in handcuffs, to present the Los Angeles premiere of Amnon Wolman's "No U Turn," coaxing layers of rhythm and texture from these implements of limited mobility.

Piano Spheres, the series that challenges with the unexpected, continues to fascinate. This month, for instance, Vicki Ray put together a program of works written between 1991 and 2000, two of them premieres--and gave each a compelling hearing. New pieces by Ryan Francesconi--in collaboration with pianist Ray--and by Turkish American composer Kamran Ince took the central spot in this recital at the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena on Tuesday night, before a large, rapt audience.