Gustavo!

The LA Philharmonic got a new music director on Thursday night, Gustavo Dudamel. He's been the talk of the town for months now. There are pictures of him all over the city hanging off street lights, on billboards. He's the 28 year old Venezuelan who has taken the conducting world by storm. I don't know enough about symphonies or conducting to compare him to Esa-Pekka Salonen or the various other conductors I've seen, but I knew it would be a BIG deal, so when Amy told me tickets were available, we got a pair of cheap seats to watch the festivities. There was a big party after for the VIPs so part of Grand Ave was closed off. From what we could see as we walked into Disney Hall, it was going to be a major shindig!

The concert included a premier of a piece by John Adams called City Noir followed by Mahler's 1st Symphony. I knew the Mahler would be enjoyable (Dudamel has a bit of a reputation on it) and that we would take our chances a bit with the Adams. Turned out the Adams was a lot of fun. His program notes indicate a 40's era LA vibe which clearly came through in the music. It reminded me of the feeling you got from those great black & white noir movies. The Mahler was great, with a very celebratory ending. Dudamel conducted this from memory and covered the podium pacing and jumping around as he conducted. He will be fun to watch. The symphony seemed to be really energized-who knows if that's season-opener-energy or new-conductor energy-but there was an electricity in the air.

Frankly, Dudamel had us at his first entrance. A couple of people stood up for him just for entering the stage! After the Adams piece, the composer came on and received his acclaim. Dudamel stood aside and allowed him to take center stage. After the Mahler, Dudamel stood in amongst the musicians to take bows, every time. The applause went on for so long that he finally had to grab the Concertmaster and escort the orchestra off stage. After all, he had a party to go to!

All in all a great night for LA, as the Dodgers won their game in the bottom of the 9th inning, so there was celebration at the north end of Downtown as well!