Chamber Concerts Return to the Ford

The John Anson Ford Theater, a.k.a. the Pilgrimage Playhouse, has been an intermittent home for alfresco chamber music. In days gone by, Heifetz, Piatigorsky, Primrose and others gave concerts that remain golden in the collective memory of local chamber music aficionados.

A year ago, the 1,100-seat facility across the Hollywood Freeway from Hollywood Bowl, its coeval cousin, was given a major face lift, featuring a new acoustical shell by Abe Meltzer. It was inaugurated with three well-received chamber music concerts, organized by cellist Robert Martin.

This year, the Ford Theater again will play host to chamber music: concerts by the Bartok Quartet July 11, 18 and 25, produced by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

A prime mover in the increased use of the Ford Theater for chamber music in general, and the Bartok Quartet in particular, has been County Supervisor Edmund D. Edelman, a man with a strong personal interest in chamber music.

“I play cello myself--barely. I’ve been struggling for about 10 years, and have just developed a thin vibrato.”

While in Europe a year ago, Edelman and his wife arrived early for a Bartok Quartet performance in Salzburg. “We saw some people--one of whom was obviously a cellist, carrying his instrument--getting out of a car,” Edelman recalls, “and asked them where the concert was. They told us they were playing in it, and led us in.”

Thus the Edelmans met the renowned ensemble. They spoke with the musicians during the break and after the performance. “Now they’re here, and I’m very excited about that,” he says.

Edelman talked to Ernest Fleischmann, executive director of the Philharmonic, about his enthusiasm for the Bartok Quartet. A Philharmonic-sponsored performance by the Hungarians in January at Gindi Auditorium was partly in response to Edelman’s urgings, as is the current series.

“It happens very rarely that a powerful local politician is actually actively involved in getting some interesting--and not that obviously popular--music played,” Fleischmann remarks. “We’ll be involved in a lot more chamber music activity if this works as we feel it should.”

The role of Edelman and the county in this has principally been one of leadership, as the theater is operated on lease by a private company, and the Philharmonic or other prospective producers must make their own plans. Nonetheless, the supervisor says “I’m hoping that we can establish an annual chamber music series there.”

Edelman has also been instrumental in bringing Shakespeare back to the Ford. According to Ben Donenberg of Shakespeare Festival/LA, “Edelman is the major mover, he’s played a key role in fund raising and in encouraging us to expand our performances.” Donenberg’s company is presenting the “Comedy of Errors,” directed by Kevin Kelley of the Juilliard School, on weekends at the Citicorp Plaza, Aug. 13-Sept. 4. The production then moves to the Ford Sept. 10 and 11.

For the future, “obviously, we would like to see dance return to the Ford.” Edelman has also talked with Peter Hemmings of Music Center Opera about staging chamber opera.

MUSIC OF THE SPHERES: An asteroid, discovered by Eleanore Helin July 4, 1986, has been named Pasasymphonia. Helin, a planetary scientist at JPL, chose the name in honor of the “cultural standard the Pasadena Symphony has set for the community.” The asteroid was christened only after the Minor Planet Center of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory determined that it had a stable, predictable orbit around the sun.

BRINGING PARIS TO PARISIANS: In October, American Ballet Theatre will dance at the Festival Internationale de Danse de Paris-- the company’s first European performances in 11 years. By request, the center of ABT’s festival repertory will be “Gaite Parisienne,” as costumed by Christian Lacroix and seen here in March.

GRANTS AND AWARDS: Pianist Wendy Chen, a 15-year-old student of Dorothy Hwang at the R. D. Colburn (formerly Community) School for Performing Arts, has been given the 1988 Bronislaw Kaper Award by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It includes $1,000 and an appearance as soloist on the Philharmonic’s High School Night next season. . . . Arco Foundation has awarded $15,000 to the Long Beach Symphony to finance its ongoing search for a music director. . . . The California E.A.R. Unit’s Ensemble Residency grant from Chamber Music America has been renewed, bringing the group back to the County Museum of Art next season.

NEW MUSIC: William Schuman’s 5th String Quartet--his first such composition in 38 years--received its premiere June 21, by the Orford Quartet at the N.Y. International Festival of the Arts. Schuman also received an honorary doctorate from Yale University May 29. . . . A 13-part radio series featuring the Kronos Quartet in conversation and performance begins Monday at 11 p.m., on KUSC (91.5 FM). Following that, the programs will be aired on consecutive Mondays at 9 p.m.