Sarah Chang

We attended the Sarah Chang concert on Thursday, Nov. 6, at the Laguna Beach Artists' Theatre. After reading Chris Pasles' review ("Violinist, 16, Has Skill but Lacks Subtlety," Nov. 8), we have no doubt that we attended, but did he? Mr. Pasles' review may impress a minute segment of the music-loving population, but it certainly did not reflect the general mood of the concert audience. Everyone we spoke to was impressed by Miss Chang's expertise, passion and charm. Only 16 years old and a commanding performer.

Kurt Masur, former music director of the New York Philharmonic, was hospitalized after an onstage injury at Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris. The 84-year-old conductor fell from the podium into the front row of the audience while conducting the National Orchestra of France on Thursday night. Masur was taken to Georges Pompidou hospital in Paris, where reports say he didn't sustain serious injuries and will soon be released. No audience members were injured during the incident.

That irrepressible British wit Bramwell Tovey -- who also happens to be principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl -- was at it again Tuesday night. And this time, he could thank our politicians, spinmeisters and news media for some fresh comic ideas. While musing about the misadventures of the "dreadful" Peer Gynt, Tovey couldn't help but crack, "Even though he was from a land of the North, he wasn't vice presidential material!" -- adding, for political balance, "Or the governor of New York!"

A recital without an encore is like a meal without dessert. Orchestral concerts usually skip dessert, unless the orchestra is on tour. (On the road, Valery Gergiev, conductor of the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, always has five or six popular short pieces ready.) Sometimes encores are given after a concerto. Some conductors, however, think it's rude to make an orchestra (and maestro) wait while a soloist basks in extra applause. In fact, the whole art and practice of the encore is rather complicated, and subject to debate among performers.

Kurt Masur, former music director of the New York Philharmonic, was hospitalized after an onstage injury at Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris. The 84-year-old conductor fell from the podium into the front row of the audience while conducting the National Orchestra of France on Thursday night. Masur was taken to Georges Pompidou hospital in Paris, where reports say he didn't sustain serious injuries and will soon be released. No audience members were injured during the incident.

Sixteen-year-old violin virtuoso Sarah Chang, who has performed with nearly all the world's major orchestras, will be the guest soloist for the American Youth Symphony's 33rd annual gala benefit concert March 8 at the Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The orchestra is led by music director and conductor Mehli Mehta; the evening's program will include Tchaikovsky's Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Wagner's Prelude from "Die Meistersinger" and Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique."

A recital without an encore is like a meal without dessert. Orchestral concerts usually skip dessert, unless the orchestra is on tour. (On the road, Valery Gergiev, conductor of the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, always has five or six popular short pieces ready.) Sometimes encores are given after a concerto. Some conductors, however, think it's rude to make an orchestra (and maestro) wait while a soloist basks in extra applause. In fact, the whole art and practice of the encore is rather complicated, and subject to debate among performers.

At 16, violinist Sarah Chang is already a veteran of the concert circuit, but she is still emerging as an artist. That should come as news to no one except those intoxicated with the concept of the prodigy. It takes time for a musician to develop. It is not a matter of technique, which Chang has enough of; it's a matter of having sufficient time to develop something to say and the personality with which to say it.

This recording incorporates valuable new performance and editorial ideas about Beethoven's monumental opera. But even without them, Mackerras' electrifying, sensitive conducting and the singing of amostly brilliant cast make it staggering as a staging in the theater of the mind. The critical issues pertain mostly to scoring and balance among instrumental forces, and adding of vocal appoggiaturas. Also, Mackerras appends the "Leonore" Overture No.

Orchestral display for its own giddy sake is not something we usually associate with Esa-Pekka Salonen. It seems a reasonable indulgence, however, on a program celebrating the musicians of the orchestra, such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Pension Fund Benefit on Monday evening at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, with soloist Sarah Chang. Certainly Salonen exploited every opportunity for muscle-flexing and colorful preening afforded in popular favorites by Sibelius, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky.

That irrepressible British wit Bramwell Tovey -- who also happens to be principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl -- was at it again Tuesday night. And this time, he could thank our politicians, spinmeisters and news media for some fresh comic ideas. While musing about the misadventures of the "dreadful" Peer Gynt, Tovey couldn't help but crack, "Even though he was from a land of the North, he wasn't vice presidential material!" -- adding, for political balance, "Or the governor of New York!"

WITH joy, confidence and drama, Leonard Slatkin conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in music by Glinka, Brahms and Shostakovich on Tuesday at the Hollywood Bowl. The heart of the program turned out to be Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, with Sarah Chang as soloist. In 2004, she, Slatkin and the Philharmonic had played it during the conductor's first concerts in Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Sarah Chang, the globe-trotting, 24-year-old master violinist, one of classical music's hot tickets, made her impressive Hollywood Bowl debut at age 11 -- with three years of professional concerts in the U.S., Europe and Asia already under her belt. She returns to the Bowl on Tuesday to perform Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Slatkin.

Sarah Chang was the big draw at the Pacific Symphony concert Wednesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. She played two works -- Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 and Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen" (Gypsy Airs) -- with big, warm, luminous tone. But she revealed nothing about herself or about the music. "Zigeunerweisen" provided the template of her approach.

Karl Goldmark's Violin Concerto from 1877 is an almost exact contemporary of, and naturally overshadowed by, the Brahms and Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos, two of the greatest essays in the genre. Yet Goldmark's concerto is a very fine and appealing work, conservatively late Romantic with a touch of Mendelssohn's fleetness and melodic inspiration. And it appears to be making a comeback, if the simultaneous release of performances by these young performers is any indication.

Orchestral display for its own giddy sake is not something we usually associate with Esa-Pekka Salonen. It seems a reasonable indulgence, however, on a program celebrating the musicians of the orchestra, such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Pension Fund Benefit on Monday evening at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, with soloist Sarah Chang. Certainly Salonen exploited every opportunity for muscle-flexing and colorful preening afforded in popular favorites by Sibelius, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky.

WITH joy, confidence and drama, Leonard Slatkin conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in music by Glinka, Brahms and Shostakovich on Tuesday at the Hollywood Bowl. The heart of the program turned out to be Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, with Sarah Chang as soloist. In 2004, she, Slatkin and the Philharmonic had played it during the conductor's first concerts in Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Sarah Chang was the big draw at the Pacific Symphony concert Wednesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. She played two works -- Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 and Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen" (Gypsy Airs) -- with big, warm, luminous tone. But she revealed nothing about herself or about the music. "Zigeunerweisen" provided the template of her approach.

This recording incorporates valuable new performance and editorial ideas about Beethoven's monumental opera. But even without them, Mackerras' electrifying, sensitive conducting and the singing of amostly brilliant cast make it staggering as a staging in the theater of the mind. The critical issues pertain mostly to scoring and balance among instrumental forces, and adding of vocal appoggiaturas. Also, Mackerras appends the "Leonore" Overture No.

Sixteen-year-old violin virtuoso Sarah Chang, who has performed with nearly all the world's major orchestras, will be the guest soloist for the American Youth Symphony's 33rd annual gala benefit concert March 8 at the Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The orchestra is led by music director and conductor Mehli Mehta; the evening's program will include Tchaikovsky's Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Wagner's Prelude from "Die Meistersinger" and Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique."