L.A. Philharmonic Eschews Mozart Bicentennial Mania

If it’s been some time since you heard a salvo in the perpetual battle between Los Angeles and New York City, try this one:

“We would question the seriousness,” says Ernest Fleischmann, using the royal pronoun unabashedly, “of putting on everything Mozart wrote, as will be done by a city we know about.”

The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s managing director refers, of course, to Lincoln Center’s recent announcement of its 20-month plan to produce performances of all 835 works by the Austrian composer throughout the city during the Mozart bicentennial celebrations, in 1991 and beyond.

Speaking for the L.A. Philharmonic Assn., Fleischmann says the orchestra will not neglect the 1991 observances of Mozart’s death, but will participate selectively.

“We feel that too much concentration in one time period is probably not the wisest thing to do. We also feel that if the music is good enough, it should be played all the time,” says the impresario, who added, “And when we perform Mozart, we try to get specialists to play his music.”

One special Mozart observance in 1991, Fleischmann reveals, is a cycle of 10 of Mozart’s 23 piano concertos, to be performed by the orchestra during the calendar year--that is, during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons. Among the specialists Fleischmann has enlisted for this project are Richard Goode, Yefim Bronfman, Maria Joao Pires, Elizo Virzaladze, Mitsuko Uchida and Jeffrey Kahane.

The 1991 Hollywood Bowl season will devote two weeks to Mozart, one week to be conducted by Peter Mark, the other by Raymond Leppard. Fleischmann also promises “other scattered works” of Mozart at the Bowl and during the winter-season portions of 1991, and a smattering of “the lesser-known chamber music on programs of (our) Chamber Music Society.

“But, there will be no specific emphasis on the symphonies in this time period. It’s as simple as that. After all, we play the symphonies all the time.”

Finally, the managing director says, benignly, “We try not to compete or conflict with repertory that would normally be performed by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra or the (L.A.) Master Chorale.”

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, just the sort of marathon observance Fleischmann criticizes has been announced by a consortium of 42 performing arts groups headed by Lotfi Mansouri, general director of San Francisco Opera.

From May 22 through June 30, 1991, the citywide festival, called “Mozart & His Time,” will explore the life and work of the composer and the period from approximately 1750 to 1800. The celebrations are being managed by committees staffed by the largest participating organizations: American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Symphony.

At the opera, Mansouri’s company will produce “Cosi fan Tutte” (staged by Harry Kupfer) and revive older productions of “Le Nozze di Figaro” and “Die Zauberflote.” In addition, SFO will give a semi-staged performance of “Lucio Silla” in Masonic Auditorium and perform “La Finta Giardiniera” at Stern Grove.

The San Francisco Symphony will play four weeks of Mozart programs and sponsor Mozart programs by the visiting Guarneri String Quartet.

San Francisco Ballet will offer two evenings of ballets set to music by Mozart.

And, outside the May-June time frame, American Conservatory will open its 1990-91 season with a new production of Beaumarchais’ original comedy “The Marriage of Figaro,” in a new translation by Joan Holden, to be given at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre.

ON THE AIR: Honoring the 50th anniversary of the Texaco/Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, and preceding the beginning of the 1990-91 broadcasts, a 13-week series called “Texaco/Metropolitan Opera: Echoes from the Last 50 Years” will begin Sept. 1.

The series will offer a panoramic view of memorable performances by stellar singers and conductors who have been among those presented on the live broadcasts over the last half century. The series has been written by George Jellinek and will be narrated by Peter Allen.

The opening program is devoted to Verdi’s “Aida,” and features the recorded voices of Fedora Barbieri, Carlo Bergonzi, Grace Bumbry, Maria Callas, Placido Domingo, Rita Gorr, Giovanni Martinelli, Robert Merrill, Zinka Milanov, Aprile Millo, Ezio Pinza, Leontyne Price, Renata Tebaldi, Richard Tucker, Jon Vickers, Leonard Warren and Ljuba Welitsch. Subsequent programs focus on “Tannhauser” and “Lohengrin,” “La Traviata,” and “Rigoletto” and “Il Trovatore.” Locally, “Echoes” will be broadcast on KUSC-FM (91.5) Saturdays from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.