Glittering reception in Paris

Sacre coeur!

LACO officials, board members and music director Jeffrey Kahane and his wife Martha were greeted by the US Ambassador to Paris in the ambassador's own fabulous mansion on the rue de Faubourg Saint-Honore the same day we arrived in Paris, Friday Mar. 7. The palatial home was for a time owned by the Rothschilds, until it was taken over by the Nazi's. The American government eventually bought it from the Rothschilds after they returned following the second world war. We got a tour, had wonderful hors d'oeuvres, and met some interesting supporters of the arts in Paris. Tonight, the orchestra tests its mettle (and brass) in the historic Theatre des Champs Elysee. Today was a day to shop, sightsee, get over the flu, and for me, return to some beloved neighborhood haunts from Parisian visits of decades ago: the Luxembourg gardens, for one, and the Place de Vosges. I walked for hours. A full report on the concert in a few hours!

Au revoir,

Giselle (my name in French class at Horace Mann Elementary School)

Musical marathon in Berlin!

The Berlin Konzerthaus, where LACO played Thurs. Mar. 6

The LA Chamber Orchestra would probably still be playing encores in Berlin's elegant Konzerthaus if music director Jeffrey Kahane hadn't pulled concertmaster Margaret Batjer offstage. This, after not only a vocal encore by soloist Vasselina Kasarova (the elusive Tancredi aria that had originally arrived in the wrong key. Thanks to some bionically fast copying of parts by librarian Bob Dolan, the orchestra's parts were in the correct key favored by the great Bulgarian mezzo. Kahane still had to conduct looking at a full score in the wrong key. Which wouldn't be a problem for most people. He has perfect pitch, and was pretty uncomfortable. But I digress.) The orchestra also played an encore; a quicksilver performance of the final movement of Prokofiev's Classical Symphony. The regular program was itself extremely long by LA standards, about two and a half hours. It opened with Haydn's Symphony No. 99, then came overtures and arias by Mozart and Rossini featuring Kasarova, and finally the Pulcinella Suite of Stravinsky. One thinks of a Berlin audience as not only discerning (the Berlin Phil is the hometown band) but reserved. Not at all. There was foot-stamping, roars of bravo, and, again, they wouldn't stop applauding.It was a thrilling night for LACO musicians.

Concertmaster Margararet Batjer says playing in these great music capitols, in these superb halls, has given the members of the orchestra atremendous lift. They will never think of themselves in the same way as before. They have earned the respect of audiences in the Mecca of classical music. There has long been a special LACO esprit de corps; if you haven't experienced it for yourself, get thee to a concert this season in LA. http://www.laco.org For one thing, the musicians have day jobs: playing in the studios, teaching, playing Pacific Symphony, and other local groups. LACO concerts (a double set at the Alex Theatre in Glendale and UCLA's Royce Hall) take place only about once a month. So this is a true labor of love, with rehearsals often falling after a long day in the studios. So they certainly don't get sick of each other. Coming together to play this stunning repertoire is like a holiday. The good vibes on this tour are palpable, despite illness among the ranks and a very demanding travel schedule. Kahane himself says he's never experienced anything like it.