The Los Angeles Philharmonic recently took on a pair of contentious 20th century works as part of the Green Umbrella series: African American composer Julius Eastman's provocatively titled "Evil Nigger" and Salvatore Martirano's "L's G.A for Gas-Masked Politico, Helium Bomb, and Two-Channel Tape" — with performance artist Ron Athey serving as the electronically altered voice in the latter. Writes Times classical music critic Mark Swed: "What does this concert, devised by John Adams, have to do with the price of tea in China, or, for that matter, the bombs in Syria or the Black Lives Matter movement? A lot, it turns out." Los Angeles Times

Source: Los Angeles Times February 24, 2018 03:33 UTC