This past weekend marked the beginning of the end of the Gustavo Dudamel era at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The orchestra’s outgoing Music & Artistic Director kicked off his final season at Walt Disney Concert Hall with a banger of a pairing: An Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss and world premiere performances of Earth Between … Continue reading
Last year, when I wrote this piece about the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s search for a new Music Director once Gustavo Dudamel’s tenure ends in 2026, I said, “If I ruled the world, I’d put Esa-Pekka Salonen mostly in charge while I took my time to find the right permanent replacement.” Turns out, I’m not the … Continue reading
Last Sunday, Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic closed their curiously-named “Mahler Grooves Festival” with a fourth and final performance of a his-and-hers program: Gustav’s Symphony No. 5 and Alma’s Five Songs. The concert proved to be a thrilling way to cap Mr. Dudamel’s latest exploration of the Mahler oeuvre. The Venezuelan conductor has … Continue reading
Gershwin night at the Hollywood Bowl is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. There’s so much high quality material to work with that even average interpretations can bring joy to a listener’s heart. Fortunately for attendees at the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s recent Gershwin concert, the performances were well above-average, with the soloists — pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, mezzo-soprano … Continue reading
Last week, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 2024 classical music summer season officially kicked off at the Hollywood Bowl with visits by conductor Elim Chan and violinist Augustin Hadelich. They brought along works by Unsuk Chin, Prokofiev, and Rimsky-Korsakov which can be challenging for any orchestra, particularly one that was barely back from a multi-week break. … Continue reading
All is Yar 