By Nestor CASTIGLIONE It is one of those curious curveballs in history that, despite the centuries in which it was at the summit of global power, Spain’s imprint on classical music was surprisingly weak. Composers it had – and very innovative ones at that ¬– during the Age of Exploration, both at home and in […]
January People celebrated the Lunar New Year Festival at Universal Plaza with the entranceway decked out in red paper lanterns and banners, welcoming the year of the fire rooster. Cherry blossom trees stood around the courtyard with red slips of paper tied to the branches, each with a wish for the coming year. A Mandarin-speaking […]
By Susan JAMES The girls have totally taken over the franchise in “Pitch Perfect 3,” the last call for the Barden University BFF songsters known as the Bellas. Directed by Trish Sie from a screenplay by Kay Cannon, the all-female singing group that took their college competition by storm in “Pitch Perfect” (2012) and made […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE It seems that every passing year brings increasingly greater and richer musical experiences to music lovers in Southern California. If there was anything in which 2017 was pronouncedly better, it was in the amount and quality of great live music. As the twilight of 2017 dims before the auguring of 2018, I’ve […]
By Charly SHELTON Each year, the Queen Mary in Long Beach hosts a Christmas carnival called Chill. It started with carnival rides, overpriced county fair food and some ice sculptures. Then it became more about the ice and wintertime fun. It had walkthrough ice sculpture stories of classic Christmas tales. It brought in better food, […]
By Charly SHELTON Overpopulation will be the big problem that the next generation will have to deal with. Too many people taking up too few resources. How to combat this problem? Either have more resources, most of which are non-renewable, or use less per person. Make each ear of corn feed a dozen people, each […]
» Part 2 By Nestor CASTIGLIONE Shostakovich: The Gadfly (complete original score), Suite from The Counterplan (Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz/Mark Fitz-Gerald) [Naxos] – Another Shostakovich score makes a favorite pick of the year. This time it’s the world premiere recording of the complete original score to the 1957 Soviet film, “The Gadfly.” The suite compiled by the […]
By Susan JAMES “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is the ninth film to explore George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away. Sadly, it is also the swan song for Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia as the actress died last December. For those who just can’t get enough of Lucasian mythology, Jedi mysticism and explosive star battles, this […]
By Charly SHELTON The winter holidays can be a big production, like a stage performance. Thanksgiving is the dress rehearsal – the family comes over to the house, there’s a dinner but no presents. It’s easy and a good warm up to the main event. Then Christmas arrives – opening night done up with all […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE The days grow shorter, the air (at least at night) turns crisp, and the stacks of CDs in my listening room grow taller. Winter is nearly here, its augurings pulling down the curtain on the year that is about to be closed definitively. What the next year will bring can only be […]