By Valerie Scher
CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC

May 18, 2008

Superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach at the Balboa Theatre. Conducting sensation Gustavo Dudamel interpreting Bernstein at the Civic. The revered Guarneri String Quartet giving a farewell performance at Sherwood Auditorium. And the local premiere of New York choreographer Elizabeth Streb's high-flying “Streb vs. Gravity” at the Birch North Park Theatre.

LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY 2008-09 SEASON 40TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EVENTS All concerts at 8 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Neurosciences Institute, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, La Jolla: Centennial Celebration of the Visionary French Composer Olivier Messiaen. “Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus.” With pianist Christopher Taylor. Jan. 18 at Birch North Park Theatre, 2891 University Ave.: Streb vs. Gravity. Jan. 24 at Qualcomm Hall, 5775 Morehouse Drive, Sorrento Mesa: Venice Baroque Orchestra. With director Andrea Marcon. Feb. 7 at Carlsbad City Library, Schulman Auditorium, 1775 Dove Lane, Carlsbad: Cecilia String Quartet. Feb. 21 at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown San Diego: Violinist Itzhak Perlman. April 4 at Sherwood Auditorium in the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla: The Romeros' 50th anniversary. May 17 at the Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., downtown San Diego: Cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Bach's Suites Nos. 1, 3 and 5 for Unaccompanied Cello. CELEBRITY INTERNATIONAL ORCHESTRA SERIES Concerts at 8 p.m. Nov. 22 at Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., downtown: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Gustavo Dudamel. Bernstein's “Halil 16” and Concerto for Orchestra (“Jubliee Games”); Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. Feb. 20 at Copley Symphony Hall: Munich Symphony Orchestra with conductor-pianist Phillipe Entremont. All-Beethoven program. Overture to “Prometheus,” Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”), and Symphony No. 7. March 17 at Symphony Hall: London Symphony Orchestra with conductor Valery Gergiev and pianist Alexei Volodin. Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4; Prokofiev's Symphonies Nos. 1 and 6. REVELLE CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES Concerts at 8 p.m. at Sherwood Auditorium. Oct. 18: Guarneri String Quartet – United States. “Farewell Tour.” Haydn's Quartet in G Minor (“The Rider”); Kodaly's Quartet No. 2; Dvorak's Quartet No. 12 (“The American”). Dec. 6: Takacs Quartet – Hungary. Haydn's Quartet No. 67; Mozart's Quartet No. 21, K. 575; Schumann's Quartet in A Minor. March 7: Leipzig String Quartet – Germany. Haydn's Quartet No. 63 (“Sunrise”); Janacek's Quartet No. 2 (“Intimate Letters”); Mendelssohn's Quartet No. 6. May 2: Jerusalem Quartet – Israel. Haydn's Quartet in C Major (“The Birds”); Bartok's Quartet No. 4; Borodin's Quartet No. 2. FRIEMAN FAMILY PIANO SERIES Concerts at 8 p.m. at Sherwood Auditorium. Oct. 10: Helene Grimaud – France. Program to be announced. Feb. 13: Olga Kern – Russia. Haydn's Piano Sonata No. 60; Brahms' “Variations on a Theme of Paganini”; Chopin's Sonata No. 3; Liszt's “Rhapsodie Espagnole.” March 27: Imogen Cooper – United Kingdom. Bach's Partita No. 2; Schubert's “Six Moments Musicaux” and Sonata in G Major; Schoenberg's “Six Little Pieces.” April 17th: Simone Dinnerstein – United States. Schubert's “Impromptus,” Op. 90; Bach's French Suite No. 5; Webern's “Piano Variations”; Schumann's “Kreisleriana.” DANCE SERIES Performances at 8 p.m. at Birch North Park Theatre. Jan. 31: Pilobolus – United States. March 21: Shen Wei Dance Arts – Taiwan. “The Rite of Spring.” May 8: Ballet Preljocaj – France. “The Four Seasons.” JAZZ SERIES Concerts at 8 p.m. at Birch North Park Theatre. March 14: Cyrus Chestnut Trio. April 25: Marcus Roberts Trio. May 16: Nicholas Payton Quintet. DISCOVERY SERIES Concerts at 3 p.m. at the Neurosciences Institute. Jan. 11: Violinist Augustin Hadelich – Italy. Gold Medal, International Violin Competition, Indianapolis (2006). Stravinsky's “Suite Italienne” (arranged from “Pulcinella”); Telemann's “Fantaisie” No. 11; Ysaye's Sonata No. 3; Brahms' Sonata No. 3; Sarasate's “Carmen-Fantasy.” April 5: Violinist Daniel Austrich – Russia. First Prize at the International Beethoven Competition, Austria (2005). Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 2; Schnittke's Violin Sonata No. 1; Schumann's Violin Sonata No. 1; Chausson's “Poeme.” May 3: Violinist Yi-Jia Susanne Hou – Canada. Gold Medal, Concours International Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud, France (1999). Mozart's Rondo from Serenade No. 7, K. 250; Grieg's Sonata No. 3; Yang's Suite of Folksongs and Dances; Ysaye's Solo Sonata No. 2; Sarasate's “Faust Fantasy.” THE DETAILS To receive a brochure and add your name to the mailing list, please call the La Jolla Music Society box office. Subscriptions go on sale May 30 and range from $60 to $280, depending on the series. Special event prices range from $25 to $95 and go on sale July 7. Box office: (858) 459-3728. Online: LaJollaMusicSociety.org. – COMPILED BY VALERIE SCHER

Those are a few of the highlights in the La Jolla Music Society's just-announced 2008-09 season, which consists of 27 events slated from October through May of next year. Honoring its 40th anniversary, the lineup is the society's largest ever in terms of budget ($3.5 million).

“For an organization to still be successful after 40 years is an achievement that should be celebrated,” said Christopher Beach, who came aboard as the society's president and artistic director in December of 2005.

The seven anniversary programs include violinist Itzhak Perlman and cellist Ma in addition to such ensembles as the Venice Baroque Orchestra and The Romeros, the North County-based classical guitar dynasty that will mark its 50th anniversary.

In addition, a program by pianist Christopher Taylor will pay tribute to Olivier Messiaen, the late French composer, organist and ornithologist whose 100th birthday is Dec. 10, just two days before the concert at La Jolla's Neurosciences Institute.

One aspect that's impossible to miss is the international flavor of next season's chamber music, piano, orchestra and dance programs.

The Celebrity Orchestra Series has been renamed the Celebrity International Orchestra Series and showcases three foreign ensembles and conductors.

The London Symphony Orchestra – led by Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, with Russian pianist Alexei Volodin as the soloist – will perform works by Beethoven and Prokofiev at downtown's Copley Symphony Hall. France's Phillipe Entremont will double as conductor and pianist in the Munich Symphony Orchestra's all-Beethoven program at the 2,252-seat venue.

Likely to sell out downtown's 2,967-seat Civic Theatre is the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra's concert led by Dudamel, the 27-year-old native of Venezuela who becomes the Los Angeles Philharmonic's music director in the fall of 2009.

“I think this kid is touched by genius,” Beach said of Dudamel, the globe's hottest young conductor, who will conduct the Israel Philharmonic during its seven-city U.S. tour. “He has extraordinary charisma.”

The international emphasis extends to the Discovery Series (which touts an array of prize-winning young violinists) and the Frieman Family Piano Series, newly named for the family that has provided a $1 million challenge grant. Along with France's Helene Grimaud and Russian-born Olga Kern, the keyboard roster includes England's Imogen Cooper and Simone Dinnerstein, the sole U.S. representative in the concerts at La Jolla's Sherwood Auditorium in the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Why have an all-female roster?

“Women are underrepresented in concerts,” Beach explained. “And there are great women pianists.”

Also scheduled for Sherwood are string quartets from Hungary, Germany, Israel and the U.S, all to be heard in the Revelle Chamber Music Series.

No less cosmopolitan is the Dance Series at the Birch North Park Theatre, which will welcome this country's ever-popular Pilobolus as well as Taiwan's Shen Wei Dance Arts in “The Rite of Spring” and France's Ballet Preljocaj in a performance of “The Four Seasons.” The French company will be accompanied by the Vivaldi recording made by the Venice Baroque Orchestra, which will appear in a separate program at Sorrento Mesa's Qualcomm Hall.

Now in the planning stage is a series of preconcert lectures. Organized by Marcus Overton, the society's consultant for special projects, they will include one about Messiaen.

“We want to illustrate why this genius has made such a difference,” the veteran arts administrator said of the French mystic who believed birds are the finest musicians. “We're hoping to put together a panel discussion, maybe with an expert in bird-song.”

Talking about Messiaen is part of a larger goal. By placing greater emphasis on the Prelude Series of preconcert events, the society hopes to foster a deeper understanding of what audiences will experience.

The idea, said Overton, is to “give insights into the works and the artists performing them.”

Jazz will return to the Birch North Park Theatre, with the Cyrus Chestnut Trio kicking off the series that includes two other well-regarded groups, the Marcus Roberts Trio and Nicholas Payton Quintet.

At times, however, choosing a venue required particularly careful thought. That was the case with Yo-Yo Ma's program, which is made up of three of Bach's six suites for unaccompanied cello.

Though Ma performed the same suites back in 1997 at downtown's Civic Theatre, Beach felt that music written on such an intimate scale should be heard in more modestly proportioned surroundings.

Yet if the Civic was too big, La Jolla's 492-seat Sherwood Auditorium was too small.

“We would have so many people who wouldn't get to hear the concert,” Beach explained.

Ultimately, he chose downtown's 1,339-seat Balboa Theatre, which underwent a lavish makeover and reopened earlier this year.

“Part of my mission is to choose the venues very carefully for our events,” said Beach. “The Balboa is a lovely theater. And I thought the recital would work perfectly there.”

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