Jacaranda Media

06/04/2026

JACARANDA LIVE RECORDINGS IS BACK!

Thursday, June 11, 2026, Jacaranda Media’s new album “ALTITUDE: Music of Saariaho, Lindberg & Salonen” officially launches with the beginning of the Ojai Music Festival. Join us Saturday 3pm at the rustic Ojai Arts Center to hear music samples, meet the artists, and purchase a CD for autographs. The digital download code is included.

Recorded live at Jacaranda’s former home First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica, October 29, 2016, “Five Images of Sappho” was supervised by Esa-Pekka Salonen who attended the concert with the late Frank Gehry. The composer writes, “Sappho reveals to us secrets of the female soul like nobody else. There is no subject more interesting.” Lyris Quartet gave the Los Angeles premiere of “Terra Memoria” by Kaija Saariaho, for whom it now serves as a memorial tribute. The composer wrote “I love the richness and sensitivity of the string sound. I feel when writing for a string quartet that I’m entering into the intimate core of musical communication.” Magnus Lindberg’s “Jubilees” celebrated the 75th birthday of Pierre Boulez, a Diamond Jubilee, and the so-called Millennium, or Great Jubilee in 2000. Pianist Gloria Cheng gave the LA premiere of these six virtuosic miniatures for Piano Spheres in 2002. Upon listening to this recording, she marveled at the music’s astonishing construction and expressivity. This Jacaranda Live Recordings album was made possible through the generous help of Frank Gruber & Janet Levin, Raulee Marcus, and Abby Sher.

“ALTITUDE” will be available for purchase for $15 at the Ojai Music Festival store June 11-14.

06/01/2026

THE GREAT AMERICAN SYMPHONY Vol III:
Piston, Gottschalk, Still, Schuman, Carter & Ives

Vote for the Great American Symphony using the link below. TGAS must act as a mural of American life—capturing emotions, manners, & cultures to embody essential complexities of national identity. Establishing his career, Walter Piston’s 2nd Symphony was not awarded the Pulitzer Prize, but he claimed it twice for terrific less-deserving symphonies. Its National Symphony premiere won NY Music Critic’s Circle Award. Bernstein conducted its soulful adagio for Piston’s memorial in 1976. America’s first symphony is the unlikely 2-movement “Night in the Tropics” by Louis Moreau Gottschalk premiered in Havana, Cuba. A 650-piece orchestra included 100 percussion players with local tumba francesa drummers for its infectious groove in 1860! The much smaller US premiere was in 1955. Esteem for William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony is steadily rising since 2020 & the “musical justice” movement celebrating its ingenious fusion of blues & symphonic form. Premiered by Rochester Phil in 1931, Still’s was the most often performed American symphony before 1950. Relative obscurity followed. Karl Krueger conducted it as early as 1938 & recorded it here in 1965. William Schuman got the first Pulitzer Prize for music, but again not for his career-making 3rd Symphony. In four sections, the 2-movement symphony is resolutely neo-classical (Passacaglia, Fugue, Chorale & Toccata) but influenced by the most modern sonorities of the day, including jazz. Commissioner, dedicatee, & conductor of the premiere Serge Koussevitzky led Boston to massive acclaim in 1941. Elliott Carter distilled his spikey colorful style for Pierre Boulez, who commissioned/conducted the NY Phil in 1978. The visually engaging Symphony for Three Orchestras, received great critical acclaim despite a challenged audience. Ives Fourth (19xx-xx)is unique among all symphonies for its unusual form, choral singing of American hymns, collage techniques & transcendental technical demands requiring 3 conductors for its posthumous premiere in 1965. Vol III is dedicated to the late great Michael Tilson Thomas, who led its first & last works.

Listen Here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/33OccvYDDko153ERQrbEAO?si=9eeabbba890947b5

Vote Here: https://forms.gle/f3CT6eCGXmsAnH4P6

Playlist · Patrick · 16 items

05/22/2026

May Substack - Ta**us: Far From the China Shop

Following the Aries declaration “I AM!” in April, Ta**us asserts “i feel” with grounded humility and stubborn authority. The primary domains of the bull are eating, sleeping, and making love. One must add singing because Ta**us rules the throat. Food chatter is a recurring theme and is especially apt this month as I talk about musical comfort food and the robust appetites of Ta**us—with Gabriel Fauré in the foreground surrounded by an interesting cast of supporting actors.

Click to Read:

Gabriel Fauré with guest Mark Alan Hilt; plus—the warhorse is a bull

05/01/2026

May Playlist – THE GREAT AMERICAN SYMPHONY Vol II:
Fine, Price, Hovhaness, Korngold & Stravinsky

Inching toward the USA Semisesquicentennial, I’m obsessed with The Great American Symphony. Am I alone? Vote using the link below. TGAS must act as a canvas of American life—capturing emotions, manners, & cultures; must embody essential complexities of national identity. Irving Fine was America’s most promising symphonist when he conducted Boston Symphony’s premiere of his only symphony & later that summer at Tanglewood, 11 days before dying from cancer in 1962. Symphony moves from cold war light & shadows, with a dry hint of Soviet spy craft, to embrace a bigger b***d neo-classic model that effectively integrates 12-tone techniques to gain rigor & intensity. Now almost forgotten, it was hailed as Fine’s masterpiece. This Florence Price album won Philadelphia Orchestra their only Grammy in 2022. While following the Dvorak model, Price’s Third Symphony is her most mature and authentically African American work with a rousing 3rd movement “Juba.” Commissioned by the WPA Federal Music Project, the work was premiered in Detroit by the WPA Symphony in 1940 & forgotten. The uneven excess of Alan Hovhaness’ output (67 symphonies!) may have undermined his reputation, but Symphony No. 2 “Mysterious Mountain” (alluding to Armenia’s Mount Ararat) remains movingly powerful for its blend of drive & spiritual serenity. Premiered in 1955 at a time of extreme anti-romanticism, it was televised nationwide with Leopold Stokowski leading Houston. Fritz Reiner & Chicago recorded it in 1958 gaining chart-topping popularity. Premiered by the Vienna Symphony in 1954, Erich Korngold’s ambitious post WWII symphony cobbled together Hollywood film music with Austrian structural integrity. Stravinsky’s 1946 “War Symphony” established the 3-movement form as rigorously American while also recycling music for film projects and ending with a high-energy chord often associated with “V” for victory. He conducted the NY Phil at Carnegie Hall. Both were initially panned by the press—Korngold as “too old-fashioned” & Stravinsky as “too modern.” Now they are regarded as quintessential California symphonies.

Click to Listen: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/09QkmKJl0VuWSQdPKvGH3K?si=bd623e6c93e94b5b

Vote: https://forms.gle/k3ymW2c4wb68ueyR7

Rank the symphonies included in UltraEclectic's The Great American Symphony Vol. II below from 1 (Favorite) to 5 (Least Favorite). You may write in your favorite Great American Symphony in the response below.

04/23/2026

April AstroMusic ~ Aries: The “Sacred Monster”

Thanks to AI-assisted research, for the first time, I have assembled more details than ever before—in one place—about Vaslav Nijinsky’s personality and his tragically important love life. Putting it all together using my powerful Piscean intuition, through hundreds of phone queries, and careful readings of the four principal horoscopes, I offer near-cinematic intimacy for your consideration of these four amazing lives. The interactions of legendary Russian dancer Nijinsky, world-changing impresario Serge Diaghilev, Nijinsky’s mysterious first love Prince Lvov, and his misunderstood last love Romola de Pulszky are revealed here as never before. No question, the Aries Diaghilev is the biggest and most outwardly powerful figure here—the Sacred Monster—but this intimately-explored tale reveals how the power of ego alone needs and cannot override the destinies of other people when crafting a master vision.

Adjacent sign relationships, latitude, and a retrograde move to Pisces

04/01/2026

April Playlist — THE GREAT AMERICAN SYMPHONY Vol I: Stucky, Thomson, Barber, Ives & Adams

Inching inexorably toward the Sesquicentennial, I’m obsessed by the idea of the Great American Symphony. Am I alone? Click the link below to fill out a rank-choice ballot. Using criteria for the Great American Novel, a widely shared, lucrative, & evolving national obsession, the GAS must also act as a snapshot of American life—capturing emotions, manners, & cultures. The symphony must embody American essences & complexities of national identity. We start this playlist (1 of 3) with the newest candidate—Symphony in one movement by Steven Stucky (1949-2016) premiered in 2012 by Gustavo Dudamel leading LA Phil—with sections “Intro & Hymn”, “Outcry’, “Flying”, & “Hymn & Reconciliation”—co-commissioned with NY Phil who got recording rights. NY Times found the work “engrossing;” LA Times: “substance and uncertainty”. Virgil Thomson (1896-1989) composed Symphony on a Hymn Tune in Paris under the wing of Nadia Boulanger in 1928 & conducted the NY Phil premiere in 1945. The Boston Globe called it “strong as hell.” Kyle Gann noted the work’s “…affectionately comic evocations.” Another taut one-movement work, First Symphony by Samuel Barber (1910-81) was premiered in Rome in 1936. Cleveland gave the U.S. premiere with Artur Rodzinski, who then conducted it with Vienna in Salzburg—the first American symphony heard there. U.S. cities embraced it. Chock full of American tunes & expanding the form to five movements, Symphony No. 2 by Charles Ives (1874-1951) was composed 1897-1902—but not premiered until 1951 by the NY Phil. Ives heard Bernstein conduct the live broadcast on a neighbor’s radio. While not called a symphony, Harmonielehre by John Adams (b.1947) is convincing (“thrilling ambition & equally thrilling success”—SF Gate) with movements: “The Anfortas Wound”, “Meister Eckhardt & Quackie”. Named after Theory of Harmony by Arnold Schoenberg, It was commissioned & premiered (1985) by San Francisco Symphony, Edo De Waart conducting. Each recording here is the best available. Stiff competition for Ives was finally settled by the brilliance of LA Phil playing the Ives Society Critical edition, Dudamel & DG in 2020.

Click to Listen: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4U73KmmbFXRsERze0NIwnG?si=ed3ca54eee884bd5

Click for Ballot: https://forms.gle/5opvzxDnriATY6U37

Playlist · Patrick · 17 items

03/30/2026

CONCERT 12: Haydn, Cherubini & Berlioz

Perhaps Haydn was first to represent chaos musically. Opening his otherwise fairly conventional oratorio The Creation in 1798, would be the 66-year old composer’s most radical undertaking. Even compared to later works by Beethoven, Berlioz & Cherubini, It remains avant-garde-sounding due to the systematic deconstruction of form, harmony, & melody. Despite a unison opening in ‘C”, the absence of a major or minor third creates harmony of infinite emptiness. Withholding phrase-shaping cadences, he sustains unresolved dissonances, offering only melodic fragments & the sense of instruments colliding. With the new contrabassoon & trombones, Haydn’s shifting orchestral colors anticipate Schoenberg’s “radical” idea: Klangfarbenmelodie. Cherubini’s portentous 1797 Funeral March for General Hoche, a hero of the French Revolution, introduces the new Tam Tam with impassioned dissonances, striking solos for timpani, & shrill woodwind figures. Moving far beyond this precedent, Berlioz celebrated the 10th anniversary of the “July Revolution of 1830” with a 200-piece military wind band. He conducted the outdoor procession with a sword as baton. In 1842 Berlioz added optional string parts & chorus. This very convincing recording uses ”ambisonic” technology giving 70 brass & winds players with chorus a more immersive sound. Even more grandiloquent & certainly more profound is Ted Deum (1849). Intended to honor Napoleon, it evolved into a “cosmic hymn of praise” with 935 performers. A 6-part double chorus (100 x 2) & 134 instruments including 12 harps, & a tenor soloist, is placed opposite the organ, with the 600 children singing in between to enhance the Church of Saint-Eustache’s spatial effect. Berlioz called this architectural music. A heroic tenor solo with women’s voices provides contrast and some relief from the colossal and sometimes thunderous atmosphere. Each of the three major recordings are marvelous and worth your attention, if this singularly grand work demands more. John Nelson has the legendary Marie-Claire Alain as organist and the sensational tenor Roberto Alagna mastering the cruel tessitura in this all-French affair.

Click to Listen: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Px41mAmMa6My24pjtk1Hj?si=e68682c175224fc8

Playlist · Patrick · 12 items

03/27/2026

CONCERT 11: Berlioz & Cherubini

The rivalry of Berlioz & Cherubini deserves attention if for no other reason than to challenge modern perceptions that Beethoven’s concert-oriented Vienna, & opera-obsessed Paris were all that different. When Cherubini (1760-1842) became director of the Paris Conservatory—lasting 20 years—he designated a special door for women only. The unruliest student Berlioz (1803-1869) swanned through it. Cherubini furiously chased him around a library table demanding his name while Berlioz hurled taunts. This rivalry continued for many years. Cherubini thwarted Berlioz’s efforts to win the prestigious Prix de Rome, considered a French composer’s key to the future. He also quashed any teaching positions for Berlioz. Furthermore, Cherubini deemed Beethoven an “unlicked bear cub”, difficult & “brusque” despite his genius. The conservative French composer was fixated on flawless counterpoint & fugue. But Beethoven deeply admired Cherubini’s sacred music & operas. He wrote “I am enraptured whenever I hear a new work of yours and feel as great an interest in it as in my own works—in brief I honor and love you”. Acting as his chief advocate in Paris, Berlioz worshipped Beethoven often defending him from those who found the German too dissonant & “monstrous”. Berlioz admitted Beethoven may be “contemptuous and rough yet gifted with such deep sensitivity”, often describing him as a “colossus”, “titan”, & “eagle” who had reached the very limits of music. Cherubini’s operas & choral works were widely performed in Vienna. When Napoleon occupied Vienna in 1805 he appointed Cherubini as his music director. By contrast, Berlioz was a rabble rouser destined to break rules. Heightening the polarity of this rivalry, here paired are the opening to Act 4 of Les Troyens with Cherubini’s unquestioned masterpiece. The act opens serenely. A sultry African forest sets the scene while Naiads bathe in pools. Horns herald the royal hunt; a storm rises, with chorus, driving the Trojan hero Aeneas & Carthage Queen Dido into a cave where they make love. This liaison ultimately leads to Dido’s death. Perhaps Cherubini’s requiem is suitably grand for such a queen.

Click to Listen: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7kVEpfh8kXS9sM2QBDEBwD?si=88401334715545c9

Playlist · Patrick · 21 items

03/23/2026

CONCERT 10: Clementi, Hummel & Mehul

Muzio Clementi & Étienne Méhul are almost never written about without Beethoven appearing in the same sentence. Clementi met Beethoven in 1807 over business. He built excellent pianos & published music, having first secured the British rights to Beethoven’s Razumovsky Quartets & Fourth Symphony—the entire output followed. Beethoven played Clementi’s sonatas, preferred them to Mozart’s, and recommended them to students. Clementi was born in 1752; Mozart followed in 1756; Mehul in 1763; Beethoven in 1770—and Weber sixteen years later. Scholars acknowledge Clementi’s influence on Beethoven’s piano music. Born in Rome, he studied with an organist at age 7, was appointed church organist at 14, but that was short lived. Already Clementi had composed an oratorio and a mass. In 1766 he met a wealthy Englishman who arranged for his education in London until 1773. Mozart & Clementi competed in a “piano duel” on Christmas Eve 1781 in Vienna for Russian Royals visiting the Emperor, who declared a tie. Mozart disparaged Clementi, but the Italian shared only admiration. His symphony No. 4 is the most convincing. A generation younger than Beethoven, Weber died four months earlier of tuberculosis, a deadly disease making a comeback after 75 years! His overtures & concerti have already appeared in four OHNE LUDWIG concerts, but this bassoon concerto is the equal of Hummel’s & is a worthy companion to both of Weber’s clarinet concertos. It’s a pity modern audiences are limited to hearing mostly piano & violin concertos. Like Berlioz, Méhul worshipped Gluck’s operas and distinguished himself primarily in that genre. Beethoven called him “the foremost composer of France” & the opera Fidelio was influenced by Méhul. Only his first symphony is performed with any frequency owing to its uncanny resemblance in two movements to thematic material in Beethoven’s Fifth—both composed in 1808. That Méhul hardly ventured from Paris, and could only have heard Beethoven’s first two symphonies, the coincidence fascinated Robert Schumann and musicologists since. Méhul was active in the French Revolution & was the first composer to be dubbed “Romantic”.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2z3JkuRT6r07gkRUslGeiK?si=65ac2ec534944dde

Playlist · Patrick · 12 items

03/21/2026

CONCERT 9: Gluck, Weber & Dussek

Unlike the fabulously macho arrangement Richard Wagner made of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Iphigenia in Aulos Overture (CONCERT I) to underscore his powerful case for Gluck’s parentage of German Opera, conductor Sir Georg Solti’s exciting modern instrument performance of the more familiar Orfeo & EuridiceOverture doubles down on papa Gluck’s importance with fire, gusto & panache. Weber was certainly the driving force who established the German opera tradition, but he was also a superb craftsman of exciting concertos for clarinet & orchestra. Here, championed by Sabine Meyer, one of the world’s most mistreated orchestral players, rises above the dark days of German musical misogyny to shine eloquently in this thoroughly idiomatic concerto. Herbert von Karajan wanted Meyer to join the Berlin Symphony in 1983. The all-male orchestra was dead set again her, complaining that her tone was not right. Listen to Meyers’ miraculous tonal control in this virtuoso vehicle and judge for yourself. Karajan’s relationship with Berlin soured. Jan Ladislav Dussek (born in 1760) absolutely shines in this Messe Solomnelle in G Major (aka Missa Solemnis). He lived a short forward-looking and highly visible life. The celebrity-handsome Czech-born piano virtuoso established what is the now standard positioning of the grand piano to better show off his striking profile. As worthy as his piano concerti are for exploration, the dumbfounding beauty of his choral music should move Dussek nearer if not ahead of Beethoven as inheritor of Haydn’s brilliance in religious choral music. Due to constant womanizing, frequent travel, and scruple-free business ventures, Dussek lived large, grew fat, and died at age 52 of gout. That his name had at least four different spellings, didn’t help with the illusive durability of his place in history. Nonetheless, there is now extraordinary interest in performances and recording of this sadly neglected composer’s music.

Click to Listen: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/57dIb5tNxVK2hWTClNm9hu?si=9e4d8b35000949ef

Playlist · Patrick · 23 items