Open Season: The LPO

Yo-Yo Ma

Pepe Romero

Bernadette Peters

NoDef begins its look at the coming season's arts offerings with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Over the next year, the local classical specialists will welcome some of the masters, and branch out to cover Queen, Broadway and Saints.

Students of the classics, classic rock and classy ladies alike will find something to appreciate among this year's Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra offerings. In the 2012-2013 season, our hometown orchestra's recipe will retain many of the same ingredients it has featured under conductor and music director Carlos Miguel Prieto. Famed adventurous works from the classical repertoire will combine with celebrity appearances and orchestral takes on contemporary music. There's also a dash of comedy.

Though music mavens have much to get excited across the calendar, the schedule is highlighted by those celebrity appearances. The first comes right off the bat in the fall with renowned cellist and guy your parents always watched on PBS, Yo-Yo Ma. The Chinese-born cellist, who proves why he is one of the world's greatest virtually every time he steps on stage, will be in town to play the riveting Elgar Cello Concerto on Oct. 26. Ma will also be in town the night before to make sure he can razz Prieto in a roast held in honor of the orchestral leader's birthday. Even though he's called Maestro, Prieto has always seemed like an easy-going guy. But who knew he would take things to the level of Edwin Edwards.

Open Season

As the fall approaches, NoDef previews the new slate of arts offerings in New Orleans.

Earlier in October, the orchestra welcomes a man named Cole to play some early pop hits, but we aren't talking about Porter. Pianist Kevin Cole joins Grammy-winning soprano Sylvia McNair to play the music of George and Ira Gershwin in a show complete with rare photographs and video footage, among other sights to accompany the sounds. On February 26, the orchestra also plans to welcome Bernadette Peters, who has won a Tony on Broadway and starred in productions ranging from La Strada to SVU. Peters' panache should prove to galvanize the orchestra as she runs through a revue of stage hits. On January 5, the orchestra shows that "A Night at the Opera" doesn't only involve their regular gig with the New Orleans Opera Association, as they take on the "Music of Queen." While it may sound a little dorky on its face, even Wayne and Garth would probably rejoice at the sound of "Bohemian Rhapsody" played by a full, live orchestra.

As orchestras with names like Philharmonic tend to do, the bulk of the group's schedule this year focuses on the great composers of classical music. The orchestra submitted an intriguing program of Central and Eastern European masters. The season kicks off Sept. 22 with "Night of Nights" featuring Ravel's "Concerto for the Left Hand." The southpaw called to this challenge is none other than Joaquin Achúcarro, who first burst onto the scene in 1959, and is still playing circles around plenty of youngsters. The next week, the orchestra kicks into full symphony gear with Mahler's challenging Symphony No. 5. The inclusion of Mahler draws us to the attention of the fact that major works come in pairs, with Mahler's third symphony coming at the other end of the season. Elsewhere, Beethoven's less celebrated yet no less gut-wrenching "Eroica" symphony comes in the same year as Ludwig Van's piano concerto is played. And, as ever, we can't forget the Russians/ Shostakovich's (literally) poetic Symphony No. 14 highlights an "All Saints" program on Nov. 1, while the Stalin menace's Ninth Symphony, which was designed to celebrate the end of World War II but most likely ended up being a work of subtle protest, comes up April 6.

But the LPO isn't confined east of Berlin As they've been in the past, the orchestra is also no stranger to Western European music, featuring renowned classical guitarist Pepe Romero for a tour of Iberian delights Jan. 10, and a trio of French pieces including the famed Saint-Saens Cello Concerto No. 1 on May 10.

If that's not enough, check out the LPO's full schedule and get ticket info here.

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