Ambassador 1989-90 Lineup Features Norman, Marriner

The Ambassador International Cultural Foundation will present more than 125 performances in 1989-90, the organization’s 15th subscription season. Of the 30 subscription series, all but one will be given at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena.

Soprano Jessye Norman will open the classical portion of the season, Sept. 27. Other “Stars of Opera” events are appearances by Soviet basso Paata Burchuladze, Nov. 4; soprano Kathleen Battle, Jan. 11; mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, March 6, and baritone Thomas Hampson, April 26.

The “Great Performers” series features the Moscow Virtuosi and Vladimir Spivakov, Oct. 4; Sir Neville Marriner with the 54-member Academy of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields, Nov. 20, and the English String Orchestra under Yehudi Menuhin, Feb. 15. British stage, film and television star Claire Bloom is seen in her one-woman show, “Shakespeare’s Women,” Sept. 28; recitals by flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal (Jan. 25) and cellist Yo-Yo Ma with pianist Jeffrey Kahane (April 5) round out the program.

“Great Orchestras of the World” opens with the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood, Oct. 30, and promises performances by the Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn under the direction of Dennis Russell Davies, with Ursula Oppens as piano soloist, April 3; the Orchestre National de France conducted by Lorin Maazel, March 14, and the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin under Vladimir Ashkenazy, May 30.

The Juilliard String Quartet devotes five performances to the complete Beethoven quartets (Oct. 5, Dec. 14, Feb. 7, March 29 and May 19) for the Chamber Music series, which also consists of concerts by the Emerson String Quartet (Nov. 11), the Borodin Quartet (March 1), and the Tokyo String Quartet with flutist James Galway (April 19).

Newly featured on the Piano series are Vladimir Feltsman, May 16; Minoru Nojima, April 22, and Richard Goode, Dec. 5. Return engagements are scheduled for Shura Cherkassky, Nov. 2; Eugene Istomin, Jan. 31; Jorge Bolet, Feb. 14, and Andre Watts, March 25, plus a recital by the winner of the Ambassador Foundation Award at the 1989 Artur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, on Feb. 26, complete the series.

The five-performance Festival of Early Music offers the English Concert under Trevor Pinnock. Oct. 26; a staged production of “Herod and the Innocents” by the Ensemble for Early Music, Dec. 4; the King’s Singers, Feb. 24, and the Musicians of Swanne Alley, March 8.

Christopher Parkening opens the Guitar series, Oct. 29; return appearances are also promised by the Romeros Quartet, Dec. 7, and the Amsterdam Guitar Trio, March 22. In addition, there will be Ambassador debuts by Kazuhito Yamashita, Nov. 15, and by Goran Sollscher, Feb. 28.

The Gold Medal ’90 series offers pianists Alan Chow (Jan. 15) and Frederic Chiu (April 2); guitarists William Kanengiser, March 12, and James Kline, May 14; tenor Jorge Lopez-Yanez, March 5; clarinetist Hakan Rosengren, March 19, and hornist Marie-Luise Neunecker, April 23.

There are seven series, totaling 48 events, devoted to light entertainment and popular music. The list includes “Mostly Country Music” and returning favorites such as “Sounds of Genius,” “Footlight,” the Ambassador Pops, Pasadena Civic Pops, the Big Band Era and the World Travel Films series.

The Ambassador Pops series includes dance presentations by the “Doina” Romanian Folk Ballet, Nov. 18; the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, Feb. 22; the Bulgarian State Female Vocal Choir, March 28, and the Ballet Folclorico Nacional de Mexico, Jan. 18.

Highlights of the Pasadena Civic Pops--the only foundation series this season to be presented at Pasadena Civic Auditorium--include the Mark Twain-inspired musical “Big River,” the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and “The 1940s Radio Hour.”

Ambassador’s 1989-90 brochure is free; call (818) 304-6166.

Subscriptions are available through the Ambassador Ticket Office, 300 West Green St., Pasadena. Information: (800) 266-2378.