December 15, 2009
Los Angeles Times music critic Mark Swed attended LACO’s Bel Canto concert this weekend and in his review, he praised Laura Claycomb’s “beautiful singing,” calling her performance of the Mozart aria and Zerbinetta’s Aria “dazzlers.”
About Claycomb’s performance of Zerbinetta’s aria, he writes, “The Strauss aria, which she sang in the long 1912 version, is a coloratura feast. It needs a bit of flamboyance and Claycomb found it.”
Swed also praised Derek Bermel’s A shout, a whisper, and a trace, calling it “a touching and appropriately strange tribute” to Bella Bartok. In describing the piece, Swed wrote the following:
Saturday’s performance of the new score was an ideal balance of tenderness and raucousness, of stillness and intricate rhythms, of fine ensemble playing and scintillating trumpet, clarinet and violin solos from the orchestra’s principal players.
Read the rest of the review. Enjoy!