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Scott Timberg on Creative Destruction

You are here: Home / Archives for classical music

Classical Underground Vs. The Philistines

August 21, 2009 by Scott Timberg

IN my decade and a half writing about artists and cultural figures, i never met anyone as passionate, committed and outright insane for art as alexey steele, a soviet born painter who runs a monthly "classical underground" series in his artists loft. (here's my piece.)but at first, i thought the whole thing might be a joke -- that alexey, who comes on a little bit like borat (check this out) might … [Read more...]

Philip Glass Vs. Film Music

July 21, 2009 by Scott Timberg

GLASS, who makes his Hollywood Bowl debut this week, discussed his film work with me recently.“Here’s an interesting experiment,” he said. “Play a film, any film, and then change the music. The film looks different. Then take the music, and change the film – the music doesn’t change. It’s astonishing. What does it tell us? When you put the two together, the core may be the music. Bernard Herrmann … [Read more...]

Pianist Paul Lewis

July 13, 2009 by Scott Timberg

I'D expected the brooder i saw on the cover of the wonderful harmonia mundi LPS. but paul lewis, the young liverpool-reared pianist i met at the standard hotel a few months ago, looked like a juggler on his way to a renaissance festival.lewis, who plays the hollywood bowl twice this week, takes beethoven, schubert, and the heart of the austro-german repertoire very seriously. HERE is my LATimes … [Read more...]

Christoph Eschenbach, Elegant Cosmopolitan

May 26, 2009 by Scott Timberg

LAST week i went to meet christoph eschenbach, the conductor/pianist who's been part of one of the nastiest divorces in the classical music world during a strained tenure at the philadelphia orchestra.here is the way my colleague mark swed described him: "Thin and erect, with shaved head and large cranium, dressed in avant-garde sleek black shirt and slacks, he looked like some inscrutable … [Read more...]

David Benoit and Classical Music

May 26, 2009 by Scott Timberg

MOST serious jazz people detest "smooth jazz" -- let's get this out of the way at the beginning. (here's an example.)but recently i sat down to talk to david benoit, the pianist who is one of the key figures in the movement, and quite enjoyed myself. why? because we mostly talked about classical music. and i was surprised to find that this exemplar of the pleasant and tension-free had been moved … [Read more...]

The End, and Beginning, for Esa-Pekka Salonen

April 13, 2009 by Scott Timberg

SATURDAY night i took in one of the farewell concerts by esa-pekka salonen leading the los angeles philharmonic. of all the reigning  arts heads from when i arrived here a dozen years ago, i'd bet that salonen is the only one still in place. some institutions -- and this includes hollywood studios as well -- have turned over leadership several times in that period.this was about as strong a … [Read more...]

Celebrating — and Fearing — J.S. Bach

March 31, 2009 by Scott Timberg

THIS may jar some, but i think it's fair to say that the greatest composer in the history of western music -- all due respect to beethoven, mingus, lennon/mccartney, etc -- was johann sebastian bach... the old man's birthday -- born in 1685, you dont look a day over 300! --- is today.those with a good memory for interplanetary expeditions recall that bach's music played a prominent role on the … [Read more...]

Lang Lang vs. Vienna Philharmonic

March 6, 2009 by Scott Timberg

THE other night i took a break from watching robert downey jr. in "iron man," which has a party scene in which downey and a cuter than usual gwyneth paltrow nearly begin making out on the balcony of walt disney concert hall, to run to disney hall myself for a concert by the vienna philharmonic. it was nearly as  star-studded a crowd as the movie's scene (though i'm still trying to figure out what … [Read more...]

Classical Piano and the Importance of Good Grooming

January 30, 2009 by Scott Timberg

Last night i caught Leif Ove Andsnes, the norwegian pianist, at disney hall. (here he is, right, after, presumably, chopping an entire nordic forest.) he played a set of janacek, brahms, mozart and schubert, with violinist christian tetzlaff. (a fine story on the celebrated duo here.)great concert, by the way. while the ballade in the janacek was nearly heart-stopping, my favorite was the brahms … [Read more...]

BARRY MANILOW AND THE END OF CLASSICAL MUSIC

January 21, 2009 by Scott Timberg

Don't know about your private hell -- remember orwell's "room 101"? --  but mine is to be locked in a room and made to listen to barry manilow croon "i write the songs..." turns out it actually happens, in at least one town in colorado -- strikes me as a new chapter of the "scared straight" franchise. the story was buried a bit in today's LATimes, but it's an interesting and cautionary read about … [Read more...]

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Scott Timberg

I'm a longtime culture writer and editor based in Los Angeles; my book "CULTURE CRASH: The Killing of the Creative Class" came out in 2015. My stories have appeared in The New York Times, Salon and Los Angeles magazine, and I was an LA Times staff writer for six years. I'm also an enthusiastic if middling jazz and indie-rock guitarist. (Photo by Sara Scribner) Read More…

Culture Crash, the Book

My book came out in 2015, and won the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award. The New Yorker called it "a quietly radical rethinking of the very nature of art in modern life"

I urge you to buy it at your favorite independent bookstore or order it from Portland's Powell's.

Culture Crash

Here is some information on my book, which Yale University Press published in 2015. (Buy it from Powell's, here.) Some advance praise: With coolness and equanimity, Scott Timberg tells what in less-skilled hands could have been an overwrought horror story: the end of culture as we have known … [Read More...]

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