PinnedMichael Landman-Karny·Aug 1, 2025The Beautiful Lie: Richard Strauss and the Fabricated Genesis of His Oboe ConcertoJohn de Lancie was lying. Not maliciously, probably not even consciously, but the story he peddled about Richard Strauss and the oboe…
Michael Landman-Karny·Jul 14THE LAST TERRITORY: Road Show and the Western Sondheim Didn’t Know He Was WritingKabuki is not background. In Pacific Overtures, it is the argument.
Michael Landman-Karny·Jun 25The Saint-Saëns ProblemIn 1921, when Camille Saint-Saëns died at eighty-six, he was the most decorated composer in France and a member of the Institut. He had…
InIt's Only A MoviebyMichael Landman-Karny·Jun 22The Composer Who Made the Cold War Sound Like the FutureThere is a sound near the start of "Ikarie XB 1": the engine hum of a starship bound for Alpha Centauri, built from a chord slowed and…
Michael Landman-Karny·Jun 16THE THIRD WALL Pacific Overtures and the Audience That Doesn’t Know It’s ThereKabuki is not background. In Pacific Overtures, it is the argument.
Michael Landman-Karny·Jun 15The Comprimario in the MachineOpera has survived a lot: bad kings, bad patrons, bad acoustics, director’s-theater concepts involving folding chairs and fluorescent…
Michael Landman-Karny·Jun 10The View from the Bass SectionMunich has named Petr Popelka its next Generalmusikdirektor. His opera record is short, brilliant, and loud.
Michael Landman-Karny·May 31What Mozart Refuses to Let You HideThere is a specific problem with conducting Mozart, and it has nothing to do with the notes. The notes are not hard. The architecture is…
Michael Landman-Karny·May 27The Critics Are Killing Classical Music in Los AngelesThere is a particular sound a press release makes when it lands in a review unedited. It is the sound of a critic who went to a concert and…A response icon2A response icon2
Michael Landman-Karny·May 26The Pilot Takes the Podium: Daniel Harding is the new Los Angeles Philharmonic Musical DirectorDaniel Harding holds a commercial pilot’s license and flies for Air France. On Tuesday the Los Angeles Philharmonic asked him to land…
