Lauri D Goldenhersh Pazzi Bohnenkamp was a longtime Lister and friend, soprano (who also sang alto), cantor for Catholic mass, choral contractor for Wise Temple, baseball junkie, pet sitter extraordinaire, and Giver in general. After a tough battle with skin cancer several years ago, Pazzi appeared to have been in remission, but a recent recurrence resulted in her … Read more
Just one performance remains of Long Beach Opera’s ‘Ainadamar’ The name of Osvaldo Golijov seems to be everywhere in the last few years, whether his work is being premiered by major orchestras or creating firestorms of both enthusiasm and opinion. But external drama aside, this is a composer with an innate sense of storytelling and … Read more
The tale of Don Juan has been told for centuries, supposedly originating in Spain around 1670. The Italian name for the libertine, Don Giovanni, is used for Mozart’s opera about the nobleman with an insatiable appetite for the ladies and an almost complete lack of moral compass. Performed by the Repertory Opera Company of Pomona … Read more
Father of modern art song performance, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau dies at 86 His recordings are still the starting point for the study of many German song cycles. He is one of the major players in the resurrection of art song in the 20th century. Thank you, sir, for your inspiration and commitment to artistic excellence. The … Read more
You’ve stumbled onto the newly relaunched blog at LaurisList.com… We love WordPress for its style and functionality: this new format will allow us to offer you far more useful blog features, and will give us more flexibility, too. We’re still tweaking and moving previous posts to this area, but don’t worry: links you have for … Read more
Ensemble champions local talent and new compositional breeds, tempered by tradition In our 21st-century world, Angelenos are further than ever from the farm, and words like “graft” and “hybrid” may evoke images of cigar-wielding politicos and Toyotas rather than something in the horticultural realm. But given Pacific Serenade‘s long history of nurturing and cultivating … Read more
Guest tweeter: Sherry Hutson Many thanks to our intrepid events moderator for representing the List at Wednesday’s LA Opera dress rehearsal. Sherry sent tweets via text (her first foray into the world of microblogging!), along with the other crew of “Tweet Seaters“, invited by the opera company to chronicle this new production. They got … Read more
The Celestial Opera Company, founded by Judith Townsend and under the direction of John Dennehy Jr., presented a great favorite of the bel canto repertoire on Sunday evening, May 5, at the Woman’s Club of South Pasadena: Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Conducting a chamber ensemble which included strings, winds and French horns, musical director Joshua … Read more
Frankly, Wolfgang… Upstart troupe brings Fiordiligi and Dorabella to the Old South, ala cinema Gone with the Wind is arguably one of the most operatic films ever made. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that when Josh Shaw and Stephen Karr of Pacific Opera Project starting planning their new production of ‘Cosi fan tutte‘, thoughts … Read more
I went to hear Amanda McBroom perform at the Northridge United Methodist Church this past weekend. Ahh… I still have to take a moment to pause and sigh a happy sigh, as it was just such a lovely experience. The church was an airy and hospitable place. The folks in charge of greeting concertgoers were … Read more
