Last Thursday, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel trotted out the first of two programs they’ll be taking on their upcoming tour of Asia. On the bill: ballet music by Igor Stravinsky — The Firebird Suite (1919 version) and The Rite of Spring — along with the U.S. premiere of Frenzy: a short symphony by John Adams. It’s certainly the kind of splashy and well-known music that makes for good audience draws while on the road, not to mention two composers that both conductor and orchestra know very well.

That familiarity was put to good use on this first of four Southern California performances. The LA Phil sounded in top form once again, and Mr. Dudamel’s interpretations, particularly of The Rite of Spring, proved to be compelling.

That the performance itself was of the highest quality comes as no surprise. This orchestra has a long and tight-knit history with The Rite and its principal creators. The first LA Phil performance came in 1928 under the baton of Eugene Goosens, the English composer who had led the UK premiere in 1921, less than a decade after the riotous world premiere in Paris. Pierre Monteaux, who was on the podium for that infamous first performance, was a frequent LA Phil guest conductor, as was the composer himself. Mr. Dudamel has conducted it regularly, and it was a calling card of his predecessor, Esa-Pekka Salonen. Mr. Salonen and Zubin Mehta made recordings of the work with the orchestra.

Instead, the most interesting aspect was Mr. Dudamel’s approach to The Rite of Spring this time around. The first time he conducted it with the orchestra in 2012, it was not unlike his other interpretations during the early part of his tenure: emphasizing aura, warmth, and moment-by-moment exuberance more and crispness, balance, and flow less. As I noted in my review of those performance, there was a wildness to his Rite that was wholly appropriate but clearly deviated from the laser-like precision in attack, texture, and dynamic scaling his predecessor, Mr. Salonen, would bring to bear.

Thirteen years later, Mr. Dudamel’s approach is still beefy but has become less reckless, more finely honed in both structure and timbre. His relative restraint was surprising, so much so that after the first four sections of Part I, I was worried that he might be holding back a little too much. Thankfully, my fears were allayed midway through the fifth dance, “Games of the Rival Tribes,” he finally cut loose, and the rest of the piece bloomed with savagery and mysticism in proper proportion, punctuated by interesting choices Mr. Dudamel made with instrumental texture blend.

The orchestra sounded phenomenal throughout with impeccable rhythmic and tonal accuracy, in ensemble and the multiple exposed parts. Their playing was ultimately more impressive than Mr. Dudamel’s interpretation. Individual standouts were numerous. Whitney Crockett, Principal Bassoon, has made a habit of playing the opening part with elan, and yet he outdid himself this time — his phrasing and touch, particularly in the final restatement of the theme before the music moves to the second dance, was jaw-dropping. Among the many other excellent contributions, the ones by E-flat clarinet Andrew Lowy, bass clarinet Tayler Eiffert, and guest English horn Lelie Resnick were the most noteworthy.

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Mr. Dudamel’s take on The Firebird suite was similarly more controlled than it has been in the past without being tame. In the past, he would frequently stretch tempi like taffy and punch accents and climaxes with the viciousness of a heavyweight MMA fighter. This time, he avoided exaggeration while still lingering a tad in pretty moments and not flinching at big crescendi or fortissimi. The strings were warm and lush yet still pristine. Woodwind were colorful and fleet. Brass and percussion were athletic without being overbearing. Marion Arthur Kuszyk and Robert deMaine played the oboe and cello solos, respectively, with great beauty throughout, as did Mr. Crockett with the bassoon solo in the Berceuse and Andrew Bain with the horn solo in the Finale.

Mr. Adams’ Frenzy is an LA Phil commission that was given its 2024 world premiere by Simon Rattle and the London Symphony at the Barbican. It was an apt opener, matching the Stravinsky works in energy and flavor. The roughly 19-minute work is recognizably Adams-ian (yes, that’s a word now) with its underlying pulsating rhythms, even while the composer writes in the program notes that he opted for more traditional melodic development instead of “the gradual ‘change-via-repetition’ technique in [his] earlier, minimalist-influenced works.” The single movement piece opens with churning strings and stabbing woodwind and brass; a calm middle section provides respite before the eponymous frenzy comes to bear in the finale. It’s a fun piece and a worthy addition to Mr. Adams’ ever-growing canon, reminding me in some ways of a miniature Naive and Sentimental Music.

Random other thoughts:

• The LA Phil has never recorded the 1919 version of The Firebird suite. Erich Leinsdorf led a recording of the original 1910/1911 version for Sheffield Lab, legendary for its use of “direct-to-disc” live recording with no edits. Definitely worth a listen IMHO (stream it free HERE). Messrs. Salonen and Dudamel both released live recordings of the complete ballet score via DG Concerts.
• Speaking of mentioning LA Phil recordings: I miss the days when the printed program the LA Phil would hand out at concerts would list any/all of the orchestra’s recordings of works being played that day.
• The orchestra played the program four times: Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Friday night at the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara, care of the wonderful Community Arts Music Association (CAMA). Their website includes a fantastic archive, with complete listing of past concerts that is always rewarding to peruse.
• Yoonshin Song continued to be guest Concertmaster as previously mentioned.
• Playing first bassoon in the Adams was Erik Holtje, a prior guest with the orchestra and Principal Bassoon with the Delaware Symphony and The Knights Chamber Orchestra. He also played in the section for the Stravinsky pieces.

Los Angeles Philharmonic: October 2, 2025; Walt Disney Concert Hall
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor

Adams: Frenzy: a short symphony
Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite (1919 version)
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du printemps)

RELATED POSTS

• REVIEW: Dudamel, LA Phil open final season together in peak form with Reid world premiere and Strauss warhorse (Oct 3, 2025)
• Comings and goings at the LA Phil (Fall 2025 edition, pt. 1): a potential new Concertmaster given a trial, plus other news with the strings (Sept 25, 2025)
• A chat with Whitney Crockett: the LA Phil’s Principal Bassoon talks about his approach to The Rite of Spring and why this week’s performances required extra practice (May 5, 2022)
• REVIEW: Make mine a double: season opener by Dudamel and the LA Phil was so awesome, I had to see and hear it twice (Oct 1, 2012)

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Photo credits:

• Los Angeles Philharmonic in Walt Disney Concert Hall: courtesy of Brian Lauritzen
• Whitney Crockett: Mathew Imaging