Nathaniel Rosen

With his eyes shut tight in concentration and his deep breaths launching the long arcs of his phrases, cellist Nathaniel Rosen was a model of the Romantic artist in his recital Thursday in the Fine Arts Concert Hall at UC Irvine. And it was Romantic music that brought out the best in Rosen and pianist Nina Scolnik in a mixed program that ended in a letdown with pure showpieces and trivia. In Beethoven's Sonata No.

During his recital at UC Irvine on Saturday night, Nathaniel Rosen quipped that the intended title of the program, "The Romantic Cello," somehow had been left out of the final printing. He had chosen that heading although, as he pointed out, not all of the pieces were Romantic, and none of them originally was written for the cello. No matter.

A couple of weekends ago, the high-rise LAX Doubletree Hotel was vibrating to the latest Stereophile high-end audio show. Crowded into 12 floors of suite/salesrooms, the audio-obsessed crowd, mostly male, listened to speakers, tried out paraphernalia, talked, argued and compared notes. As befits a convention devoted to sound, it was noisy everywhere. Except here, in the second-floor theater.

A couple of weekends ago, the high-rise LAX Doubletree Hotel was vibrating to the latest Stereophile high-end audio show. Crowded into 12 floors of suite/salesrooms, the audio-obsessed crowd, mostly male, listened to speakers, tried out paraphernalia, talked, argued and compared notes. As befits a convention devoted to sound, it was noisy everywhere. Except here, in the second-floor theater.

A contrasting pair of octets for string and winds constituted the bill of fare for Saturday's Chamber Music/LA Festival presentation at the Japan America Theatre. The 1958 Hindemith Octet--whose performance on this occasion was dedicated to the memory of Lawrence Morton--is both brainy and accessible, humorous, too, in the pudgy, learned fashion of the composer's last years.

Without being unpleasant about it, Jerome Lowenthal easily managed to dominate the Chamber Music/LA Festival concert in Smothers Theater of Pepperdine University Friday night. He played piano throughout the evening, blithely commented on the pieces that constituted the mini-recital first half of the program, and joined Ida Kavafian's violin and Nathaniel Rosen's cello for an incendiary account of Tchaikovsky's Trio in A minor to top the agenda.

The Chamber Music/LA Festival on Thursday evening again deposited some gifted individuals onto the stage of the Japan America Theatre with orders to make ensemble music. The program, three consecutive opus numbers by Beethoven--95 (String Quartet in F minor), 96 (Sonata in G for violin and piano), 97 (the "Archduke" Trio)--provided unexpected contrast and balance.

During his recital at UC Irvine on Saturday night, Nathaniel Rosen quipped that the intended title of the program, "The Romantic Cello," somehow had been left out of the final printing. He had chosen that heading although, as he pointed out, not all of the pieces were Romantic, and none of them originally was written for the cello. No matter.

The best anniversary celebrations survey the future as well as the past. Such a celebration, Tuesday night at Ambassador Auditorium, marked the centennial of the City of Pasadena with a concert by Pasadena Chamber Orchestra. In a generous and serious program, the 43-member ensemble, closing its 1985-86 season, offered three full-length symphonic works, one a world premiere, for the observance.

Serge Prokofiev's nominal big year--he was born 100 years ago--has brought no major recorded or scholarly revelations. But then there may be nothing of a sensational nature to reveal: no lost, great operas (no great operas, period), no clarifying Urtext of some heretofore inscrutable symphony. The surprises of 1991 have involved refreshing views, from unexpected sources, of well-known or under-appreciated scores.

One could hardly be surprised at the warm welcome given Nathaniel Rosen at Santa Ana High School on Saturday evening. After all, the California-born cellist, who a decade ago captured the gold medal in the Tchaikovsky Competition, has brought his consistently accurate, inspired music-making to Southland audiences dozens of times during the past quarter-century. His vehicle on this occasion was Haydn's D-major Concerto.

With his eyes shut tight in concentration and his deep breaths launching the long arcs of his phrases, cellist Nathaniel Rosen was a model of the Romantic artist in his recital Thursday in the Fine Arts Concert Hall at UC Irvine. And it was Romantic music that brought out the best in Rosen and pianist Nina Scolnik in a mixed program that ended in a letdown with pure showpieces and trivia. In Beethoven's Sonata No.

Ricci, Rosen and Rodriguez sounds like a hip, multiethnic law firm. The trio, however, is a musical one, of contradictory, ultimately potent, qualities. The virtues of the ensemble--Ruggiero Ricci, violin; Nathaniel Rosen, cello; Santiago Rodriguez, piano--were made very clear in a canny program at Ambassador Auditorium Tuesday evening. The trio surrounded familiar Shostakovich and Dvorak with not-so-familiar Beethoven. It was in the opening Beethoven--the Trio in E-flat, Opus 1, No.

A contrasting pair of octets for string and winds constituted the bill of fare for Saturday's Chamber Music/LA Festival presentation at the Japan America Theatre. The 1958 Hindemith Octet--whose performance on this occasion was dedicated to the memory of Lawrence Morton--is both brainy and accessible, humorous, too, in the pudgy, learned fashion of the composer's last years.

Ricci, Rosen and Rodriguez sounds like a hip, multiethnic law firm. The trio, however, is a musical one, of contradictory, ultimately potent, qualities. The virtues of the ensemble--Ruggiero Ricci, violin; Nathaniel Rosen, cello; Santiago Rodriguez, piano--were made very clear in a canny program at Ambassador Auditorium Tuesday evening. The trio surrounded familiar Shostakovich and Dvorak with not-so-familiar Beethoven. It was in the opening Beethoven--the Trio in E-flat, Opus 1, No.

"What should we wear?" my friend Nancy Craig asked our teacher while discussing our coming trip to see the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at Ford Auditorium. Like many of us in our blue-collar neighborhood, we had never been to a theater other than the Great Lakes Movie Theatre on the corner. Moreover, our wardrobes always reflected the current state of the automotive industry. "Wherever we go in life," Mrs. Redmond said, smiling, "all we have to remember is to wear our best manners."

Without being unpleasant about it, Jerome Lowenthal easily managed to dominate the Chamber Music/LA Festival concert in Smothers Theater of Pepperdine University Friday night. He played piano throughout the evening, blithely commented on the pieces that constituted the mini-recital first half of the program, and joined Ida Kavafian's violin and Nathaniel Rosen's cello for an incendiary account of Tchaikovsky's Trio in A minor to top the agenda.

The Chamber Music/LA Festival on Thursday evening again deposited some gifted individuals onto the stage of the Japan America Theatre with orders to make ensemble music. The program, three consecutive opus numbers by Beethoven--95 (String Quartet in F minor), 96 (Sonata in G for violin and piano), 97 (the "Archduke" Trio)--provided unexpected contrast and balance.