ON the Beat: A Masterful Maestra’s SoCal Return, at the Granada

This edition of ON the Beat was originally emailed to subscribers on July 27, 2023. To receive Josef Woodard’s music newsletter in your inbox each Thursday, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

Music Academy Corner

Long before the gender playing field in orchestral conducting came close to being addressed to the degree it is currently, there was JoAnn Falletta, who leads the Academy Festival Orchestra at The Granada Theatre on Saturday night, July 29. Women have slowly but steadily made their way to major conductor podiums in recent years, gradually tipping the balance from a once male-ruled realm. The subject even infiltrated one of last year’s most artful — if innately controversial — “Hollywood” films, Todd Field’s Tár, starring Cate Blanchett as a driven and semi-tyrannical maestra.

But the roster of important trailblazers in the female conducting world was a short list, including Marin Alsop and Falletta. Although Falletta’s acclaimed conducting career hit its high-profile stride when she took over the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1998, it should be noted that her first claimed music director stake was as head of the Long Beach Symphony, from 1989 to 2000. I had the pleasure of reviewing many LBS concerts for the Los Angeles Times in the ‘90s, a period when a sense of her forthcoming rise in the broader classical world seemed a sure fate. From a 1993 review: “Music Director JoAnn Falletta sculpts spacious, clear gestures in the air, and generally favors clarity over excessive emoting. The orchestra responds keenly, with a reliable expressivity.” Now 30 years hence, she is renowned for knowing and getting what she wants from an orchestra.