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Richard S. Ginell

Richard S. Ginell writes regularly about music for the Los Angeles Times, Musical America.com, Classical Voice North America, and American Record Guide.  He has also contributed to Gramophone and The Strad, among many other publications. In another lifetime, he was chief music critic of the Los Angeles Daily News.

Articles by this Author

Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
July 26, 2019
Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony in the Great Outdoors
BY Richard S. Ginell

The LA Phil provides the emotional impact despite the drawbacks of the Hollywood Bowl.

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Chamber Music Review
July 22, 2019
iPalpiti Inflates and Transforms the Kreutzer Sonata at Disney Hall
BY Richard S. Ginell

A festival finale features attractive world premieres and “Beethoven that Beethoven Never Heard.”

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Chamber Music Review
July 19, 2019
iPalpiti Soloists Play Rare Chamber Music at UCLA
BY Richard S. Ginell

Intrepid string ensembles transcend challenging acoustics with delightful works that should be heard more often.

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Modern Classical Review
June 29, 2019
New-Music Ensemble Brightwork Steps Up Its Game
BY Richard S. Ginell

Russell Steinberg’s Rucksack traces an immigrant experience from an earlier era.

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Opera Review
June 18, 2019
Central Park Five as Opera Pulls No Punches
BY Richard S. Ginell

Composer Anthony Davis’s flexible stylistic palette serves the story well.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
June 17, 2019
James Conlon Tells a Tale of Two Émigrés
BY Richard S. Ginell

The conductor leads a chamber concert featuring music by Korngold and Schoenberg, with musicians of the L.A. Opera Orchestra.

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Festival Review
June 10, 2019
The Diverse Playboy Jazz Festival Blasts Through Hollywood Bowl
BY Richard S. Ginell

The annual festival is a load of fun, despite persistent over-amplification.

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Modern Classical Review
June 4, 2019
The Most Elaborate “Noon to Midnight” Yet at Disney Hall
BY Richard S. Ginell

This treasure trove of adventurous new music is a steal for anyone with open ears.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
June 3, 2019
Dudamel Zips Through Mahler’s Eighth in LA Phil Season Finale
BY Richard S. Ginell

A fine, crisp performance with an ensemble not quite the size of the “Symphony of a Thousand.”

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
May 28, 2019
LA Phil Closes its Curtailed Haydn and Beethoven Festival With Masses
BY Richard S. Ginell

Baritone Matthias Goerne stands out in a quartet of strong soloists.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
May 13, 2019
LA Phil Unveils an Emerging Masterpiece From Thomas Adès
BY Richard S. Ginell

The premiere of Inferno is just part of the evening-length ballet envisioned by the prolific composer.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
April 29, 2019
Jaime Martín Makes an Auspicious Debut as LACO Music Director-Designate
BY Richard S. Ginell

The conductor charms listeners and demonstrates his skill in a concert pairing a Bryce Dessner song cycle with Mozart’s Requiem.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
April 16, 2019
Esa-Pekka Salonen Explores Stravinsky’s Late-Period Sacred Works
BY Richard S. Ginell

Salonen’s “Faith” concert with the LA Phil celebrates the vitality of the composer’s final years.

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Chamber Music Review
April 9, 2019
Chamber-Music All-Stars Inaugurate La Jolla’s Deluxe New Concert Hall
BY Richard S. Ginell

The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center boasts acoustics designed by famed Yasuhisa Toyota.

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Chamber Music Review
March 26, 2019
Jacaranda Celebrates Black Composers
BY Richard S. Ginell

Highlights include a Florence Price piano sonata and a swinging new arrangement of a Duke Ellington classic.

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Choral Review
March 19, 2019
L.A. Master Chorale Offers Two Requiems of Solace and Doubt
BY Richard S. Ginell

Jenny Wong conducts works that grapple with the aftermath of death in different ways.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
March 5, 2019
Dudamel Revisits Mahler’s Ninth
BY Richard S. Ginell

Ahead of an international tour, the LA Phil stretches its Mahler muscles.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
February 19, 2019
LA Phil Revives Harlem Renaissance for Black History Month
BY Richard S. Ginell

Thomas Wilkins conducts revelatory performances of works by Duke Ellington, William Grant Still, and George Gershwin.

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Chamber Music Review
January 18, 2019
Jazz Composers Exercise Their Classical Chops Under the Green Umbrella
BY Richard S. Ginell

Despite the title, “The Edge of Jazz” plays more to the concert hall than to the swinging bandstand.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
December 3, 2018
Michael Tilson Thomas Clicking on All Cylinders With the LA Phil
BY Richard S. Ginell

His masterful setting of a Carl Sandburg poem highlights the first concert of MTT’s two-week residency in Los Angeles.

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