Jim Farber
Jim Farber wrote his first classical music review in 1982 for the Los Angeles Jewish Journal. Since then, he has been a feature writer and critic of classical music, opera, theater, and fine art for The Daily Variety, the Copley Newspapers and News Service, and the Los Angeles Newspaper Group (Media News).
Articles by this Author
Kirill Gerstein is one those artists who actually benefited from the rise and the fall of the Soviet Union. Born in 1979, Gerstein profited from the Communist superpower’s cultural education system, which transformed him into a superb concert pianist. At the age of 11 he won the International Bach Competition in Gorzów, Poland.
It’s Jan. 26, and upstairs at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Gustavo Dudamel is about to conduct a rather traditional program of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. People are bustling to find their seats. It’s a familiar scene.
Gil Shaham played his debut concerts with the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic (with Zubin Mehta) at the age of 10, and now at 40 he’s one of classical music’s most popular violinists — and with good reason. In the tradition of Jascha Heifetz and Itzhak Perlman, Shaham’s playing combines a sense of effortless technical facility with an aura of joyous enthusiasm.
When orchestra administrators gather to discuss the state of the art, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s president and CEO, Deborah Borda, is frequently the keynote speaker. As well she should be.
You’re going out a youngster, but you’ve got to come back a star.”
The last time Dawn Upshaw appeared at the Ojai Music Festival was in June of 2006. It was one of those idyllic morning concerts outdoors under the trees with birds singing in accompaniment to Upshaw’s marvelous performance of Osvaldo Golijov’s song-cycle, Ayre. Everything seemed perfect. Then five months later Upshaw was diagnosed with first-stage breast cancer. She stopped performing and underwent surgery and chemotherapy.
It’s called focal dystonia. It’s a degenerative muscle disease that has affected the lives of several famous musicians, including two who recently performed in the Bay Area. Their stories, however, are quite different.
At 30, cellist Gautier Capuçon is riding a wave of success — and his smoldering French movie-star looks don’t hurt matters. His calendar is black with upcoming debut engagements around the globe, including a series of concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Capuçon’s favorite contemporary, Gustavo Dudamel.
