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Yep. Someone is playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. AGAIN. But it's not some young prodigy fresh off of his/her win at the (insert prestigious competition here). Midori is performing the concerto with the Pacific Symphony this week. Here is a clip of Jascha Heifetz (considered to be one of the greatest musicians ever) performing the piece. In somewhat related news, Midori now holds the Jascha Heifetz Chair in Violin at USC.
The Classical music season starts (unofficially) off with a bang this week. With so many spectacular concerts scheduled for the upcoming week, it was very difficult to pick just a couple shows for this week's pick. After a long and drawn out process (that involved watching a movie and creating a blip.fm account), we narrowed it down to two performances that are sure to blow your mind.
If you haven't heard, the Pacific Symphony is offering tickets to every single show and every single seat at 50% OFF. LAist encourages you to use this as an opportunity to check out the Pacific Symphony under the direction of the highly esteemed Carl St. Clair, especially if you live in Orange County. The season kicks off with one of the titans of the Classical music scene, Midori, in a performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. Since Midori devotes most of her time to teaching and gardening (seriously!), it is a treat to see her perform live, especially with a warhorse concerto like the Tchaikovsky. The Tchaikovsky is paired with another tour de force, the First Symphony of Brahms. 20 years in the making, it was well worth the wait for this piece, that manages to make a name for Brahms while paying homage to Beethoven's 5th and 9th symphonies. There are performances on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 PM. For more information, click here.
This Saturday, the Colburn School is throwing a FREE concert at Santa Monica High School's Barnum Hall. This top-notch orchestra will perform Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis, and the epic Dvorak Cello Concerto in B Minor. Ron Leonard, another huge classical music figure that teaches in LA, is the featured soloist. That concert is also at 8 PM.
In other news, the LA Opera is still concocting it's Elixir of Love, with a few more performances scheduled this week. The new NY Phil conductor Alan Gilbert made his debut, which would've been bigger news if he wasn't overshadowed by the hype surrounding the LA Phil's Dudamel. We also have to mention Muti's appointment to the Chicago Symphony, and a fine replacement for Abbado (who was reportedly next in line after Barenboim).
