If you were dissatisfied with the absence of American orchestras from this year’s Proms, you now need to head to the Barbican Center, where the sparkling Los Angeles Philharmonic is hosting its Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamé Conducted a tour under the leadership of Er. Last night was the first of its two London concerts.
As a highlight, they performed the UK premiere of a new violin concerto by Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz for soloist Maria Dueñas, 21. Frankly, she is a former BBC New Generation Artist and an amazing, mesmerizing provocateur. Mastering an inspiring array of colors on her instrument, she was undeterred by the many challenges Ortiz threw at her.
have the right leather altar (Altar for Strings), this concerto is part of Ortiz’s “Altar of Music” series, inspired by her own works chilanga The backdrop of Mexico City is coupled with Dunias’ native Andalusia, but it works as pure and captivating music. Although it is a traditional three movements, its language is very personal and is a showpiece for orchestra and soloists. In the second movement, the woodwind players create an eerie atmosphere by rubbing wine glasses, while the finale keeps the percussion on its toes.
The soloist seemed to almost narrate the entire movement; composer, conductor and soloist all maintained a complex balance. Its overwhelming response shows that there are some exciting things happening in new music.
The old music is no more familiar than Dvorak’s New World Symphony, but it emerges like new music. It repeats some of the composer’s ideas about Longfellow’s opera Song of Hiawatha He’s never finished; even if we don’t know what the story is about, we can still feel its power.
Dudamel is an efficient, intelligent conductor who directs energy exactly where it’s needed. The orchestra was equally unfussy: there were no weak points and no one messed around. They are consistent, polished and rigorously galvanized, with smooth solos for the woodwinds and brass and a special velvety beauty for the double bass. They brought the tenderness of a love duet to the second movement, the magic of a ballad to the third movement, and the finale was filled with the fury of a Hollywood-like final confrontation.
John Williams, the king of Hollywood film scores, put the finishing touches on the show: First, his Olympic horns and themeswritten in 1984, it does exactly what it says on the tin and serves as an encore to a super march The movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Film music has its roots in 19th-century Romanticism: if Williams is the plunderer of lost symphonies, then maybe everything has come full circle.
Los Angeles Philharmonic performs Beethoven’s opera Fidelio Tonight at the Barbican Center with DeafWest Theatre, which is fully signed
