L.A. Phil, Gustavo Dudamel, coming to a movie screen near you
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
In a move that the Los Angeles Philharmonic hopes will boost its national ‘brand’ recognition and raise the profile of classical music, the orchestra next year will transmit live performances of three of its concerts to more than 450 high-definition equipped movie theaters in the United States and Canada, beginning in January.
The new venture, announced Monday, will partner the L.A. Phil under an exclusive one-year agreement with Denver-based NCM Fathom, the entertainment division of National CineMedia, and Cineplex Entertainment, the same company that distributes the Metropolitan Opera of New York’s opera simulcasts to movie theaters.
Gustavo Dudamel, the Phil’s music director, will conduct all three transmitted concerts from Walt Disney Concert Hall. The first will be a Jan. 9 program that will include John Adams’ ’Slonimsky’s Earbox,’ Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 (“Jeremiah”) and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
An all-Tchaikovsky program on March 13 will comprise music from ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ ‘Hamlet’ and ‘The Tempest.’ The final program, June 5, will be Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 and Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra In A Minor, Op. 102, featuring as soloists the Capuçon brothers, violinist Renaud and cellist Gautier.
Deborah Borda, the Phil’s president, said the project will allow the Phil to capitalize on ‘three remarkable assets that we have here: Gustavo Dudamel, the vibrancy of who he is and what he is about; the artistry of the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and last but not least the magic of the Walt Disney Concert Hall.’
Among the movie theaters that will host the Phil’s transmissions are several in greater Los Angeles, including screens at the Burbank 16, the Century City 15 and the Ontario Mills 30. Additional theater locations can be found at www.fathomevents.com and www.cineplex.com.Tickets across the country will sell for between $18 and $22, a Fathom representative said.
Check back to www.latimes.com/arts for more.
-- Reed Johnson