Goldstar

• Rated 2.0
• Written on Aug 08 2008

As always, Goldstar did a fine job of purveying the tickets and easy access to one of our favorite concert venues in the universe
However, the program of Bizet and Ravel was unbelievably lackluster and even, I must say, dull. No effort was made to engage the crowd with a bit of background info about the music or the composers, only one soloist was introduced-- the cellist-- who played wonderfully, it's true. But later in the program, 2 other magnificent soloists- one an oboist, and the other, playing an oboe related instrument, the 2 musicians playing in complete tandem, with each woman's piece flowing seamlessly into the next-- as if one breath were taken by the 2 musicians- were not given the opportunity to take a bow and be applauded by the audience, for their exquisite performance.
The conductor addressed the audience once, to explain- sort of- what Ravel meant by "Pavane Pour Une Enfante Defente". That was nice, but we wanted more!
This email is really for the LA Phil-- we feel that there should be more systematic verbal "program notes" integrated into these nights at the Bowl. The audience here is not all serious 'long hairs', and we need the background info to engage us about the music, and the musicians, and the whole range of elements that go into making a wonderful performance. While one must never assume anything, our guess is that it is unlikely that any new LA Philharmonic afficienados (i.e., ticket buyers) were born at the Bowl last night. I gave this event 2 stars, and not one, because it was a beautiful summer night, and we were happy to be at the Bowl with friends.

• Rated 3.0
• Written on Aug 08 2008

Absolutely lovely evening ... excellent organization, ticket pickup was seamless, perfect weather, terrific sound. Only personal quibble was the sleepy tracelike arrangement of the two Ravel offerings, and the outright omission of anything Debussy from the lineup, unlike years past ;-).