Which concert should we choose?

December 22, 2014 5:34 PM

Someone I know wants tickets to a concert at Disney Hall for Christmas, but I can't figure out which to choose. Can any classical music lover take a look at this schedule for the next couple months and point out what might be particularly good?

The giftee doesn't have any particular musical preferences, so I'm looking for something that would appeal to a broad audience. Any suggestions?

posted by acidic to Media & Arts (18 answers total)

My first choice would be Martha Argerich. She's one of the great pianists of our time and doesn't perform very often, and the music is all dramatic and relatively audience-friendly.

The LSO concert on 3/24 also looks like a crowd-pleaser and Yuja Wang is supposed to be great.
posted by dfan at 5:42 PM on December 22, 2014

Both of those from dfan sound like really solid choices: great soloists with pieces that are accessible but not staid warhorses of the classical world.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale programs all sound really good. Whitacre is kind of the... well, I wouldn't call him the Andrea Bocelli of the choral world, but his stuff isn't particularly deep (plus he's a jerk at conferences, according to my conductor...). But the other ones should be more interesting.

You know what might be really cool is if you got two sets of tickets: one with the St. Matthew Passion, followed by Tan Dun's Water Passion, which is sort of based on the same source but uses water to make sounds. I have no idea what it's like (maybe you can find something on YouTube) but the marketing material makes it sound OUT OF SIGHT! (I am also an arts marketer, so I know how much that's worth :P).

Maybe the American Youth Symphony with the Rach 2 and Valentina Lisitsa?

Vivaldi and Handel with Natalie Dessay could be pretty great; she's a wonderful singer and very animated, though I haven't seen her in non-staged works.

The Falla and Flamenco concerts in May should be fun for anyone who likes rather dramatic Spanish music.
posted by Madamina at 6:01 PM on December 22, 2014

If it were me, I'd be most likely to choose the Beethoven Missa Solemnis. I like big choral pieces, and it sounds like quite a production. The premiere of a new symphony by Gorecki appeals to me, but may not be as appealing to someone who prefers more traditional classical music over contemporary. And you can't go wrong with any of the big-name piano recitals.
posted by matildaben at 6:05 PM on December 22, 2014

And I didn't even notice the listing for Natalie Dessay. I'd also pick that one because I love baroque opera, and she is an amazingly expressive singer. Misterben has a crush on her since we saw the Met HD broadcast of La Traviata.
posted by matildaben at 6:07 PM on December 22, 2014

My wife, who is an Atlanta Symphony Orchestra season ticket holder says:

January 9th - 11th: Michael Tilson Thomas is one of the greatest conductors of the modern world. If they've never heard him I wouldn't pass over the opportunity for Itzhak Perlman on the 21st. Aside from those massive talents, going strictly by programme, January 24th - Liszt, Chopin, Prokofiev, is what I'd choose.
posted by ralan at 6:10 PM on December 22, 2014

I was drawn to January 13th.

I know that's the wrong answer. But the tickets are only $20, and you could go to Disney Hall more than once :))
posted by jbenben at 6:15 PM on December 22, 2014

You could (unfairly) filter on LA Philharmonic only, Dudamel conducting only, as he's the crowd-pleasing music director, perhaps the Ravel concert or the Flamenco dancing one. I agree with dfan that the London Symphony Orchestra on March 24 is an interesting opportunity (and it's with Michael Tilson Thomas as mentioned by ralan's wife) and the program is accessible.

If you go with a soloist, consider whether they are performing with just an accompanist (e.g. Perlman's violin recital is with piano), by themselves (piano soloist), or full orchestra. There's nothing wrong with a recital with 1-2 instruments, but the expectation for concert hall tickets might be that there's a full orchestra event happenin'.
posted by girlhacker at 6:16 PM on December 22, 2014

I don't know about the quality of the Colburn orchestra, but Sir Neville Marriner's recordings with The Academy of St Martin In The Fields are absolutely top-notch.

Also, as a classical musician who loves concerts, while girlhacker is probably correct about there being an expectation of an orchestra, if the event turned out to have someone like Itzahk Perlman I would NOT be disappointed by the lack of an orchestra, I would be freakin' stoked that I was going to see Itzahk Perlman live.

However, for my final answer, I'm going to pick out the part of your question that says "appeal to a broad audience". On that basis, you should go with ralan's suggestion and take the Liszt, Chopin and Prokofiev. March 7 concert with Rachmaninoff and Shostakovitch is also good but there's a premiere in there - no way to say whether that will be broad appeal or not.
posted by fearnothing at 6:42 PM on December 22, 2014

Broad appeal? Sunday Jan 18: Holst, The Planets.

Me? March 1, Stravinsky, Petrushka.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:39 PM on December 22, 2014

Also, it helps to listen to a recording of the works beforehand, even if it's just on YouTube. A little familiarity helps, and the sound in the concert hall will be SO amazing. Esp for something super-dramatic like The Planets.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:44 PM on December 22, 2014

Actually, The Planets would be cool because I doubt even a fairly seasoned classical listener has heard movements other than "Mars" and "Jupiter" fairly often. (I have an undergraduate music degree, and I haven't.) "Neptune," in particular, has a women's chorus that is required to sing from, like, the lobby.
posted by Madamina at 8:38 PM on December 22, 2014

I'd love to see/hear Itzhak Perlman. He's 69, so no offense to Mr. Perlman (or anyone reading this answer in his age ballpark!) but with every year that passes, the chances to see him dwindle.
posted by cecic at 10:26 PM on December 22, 2014

My very first thought was, bummer, you missed the Klezmatics. Arturo Sandoval would have been Amazeballs too. Water under the bridge.

Itzhak Perlman is obvious and it will probably be sold out.

nthing Michael Tillson Thomas. He's a thing and everyone likes Mozart. Do get some recordings to be familiar before you go, or at least watch Amadeus.

Really, this is an embarrassment of riches, you can't blow this.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:31 AM on December 23, 2014

Itzhak Perlman is obvious and it will probably be sold out.

I completely agree. If I had the opportunity to see Itzhak live, I would be all over it. He really is amazing.
posted by Benway at 9:54 AM on December 23, 2014

Sir Neville Mariner and Holst's The Planets? Heck, yeah.

Of course, Itzhak Perlman would be excellent.

Dudamel's New World would most likely be good (who doesn't love Dvorak?).

Me? I'd be all over the Kodo concert (taiko! By the preeminent taiko group!), Hugh Masekela/Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Esperanza Spalding. None are classical, but would be amazing performances.
posted by sazanka at 10:59 AM on December 23, 2014

Choral geek here: the Los Angeles Master Chorale is one of my favorite choirs, and the Missa Solemnis was my first big choral piece that I sang in, with the UW-Madison Choral Union when I was a senior in high school. I still remember my high school choir conductor being impressed that I got in, and saying that he thought the Missa Solemnis was one of "very few choir pieces on earth of that ilk". Now that I know a lot more music 25 years later, I completely agree.

If your friend was one of those people who sang in choir in high school or college and kind of always had a soft spot for those memories, either of those concerts might be fun for them.
posted by gillyflower at 2:38 PM on December 23, 2014

(In my opinion, Bach's St. Matthew Passion is also one of those that is of "that ilk", i.e. another grand and creative choral piece likely to have a large orchestra, so that's another one I'd recommend.)
posted by gillyflower at 2:43 PM on December 23, 2014

For someone who's interested in classical music but is not necessarily well-versed in it, the March 1 concert has the advantage of spanning three different styles of classical music: Mozart is "classical", Stravinsky is "modern", and Beethoven is "romantic". If the recipient is interested in getting into classical music, this might be a good way of assessing which styles he/she likes.
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:33 AM on December 24, 2014