La Jolla Symphony & Chorus: Facing-off Across Sunset Boulevard
Sameer Patel conducts the twin towering figures of the first half of the 20th century, Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg. Separated by compositional method, aesthetic direction, and personal style. Nevertheless, they found themselves in Los Angeles at the same time, two great composers in the flood of expatriates driven from Europe by Nazism. “This scene may never have happened,” muses Steven Schick, “but I have often imagined them on opposite sides of Sunset Boulevard (for a while the two lived near each other not far from the Whisky a go go) facing off across the traffic the way they had done across the chasm of artistic difference in Europe.” Three fascinating composers, each indebted in important ways to Stravinsky and Schoenberg, complete the tableau. Sameer Patel, Associate Conductor for San Diego Symphony, guest conducts.