Halfway through a whirlwind three programs in three weeks to kick off the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s final season with Gustavo Dudamel, the maestro seems determined to leave an impression, a summation of the the band’s prowess and his work over the past 16 years in charge. Last week saw a world premiere paired with one of the most massive pieces in the repertoire. This week, no less formidable, a US premiere combined with two pieces by Stravinsky, including The Rite of Spring, the calling card of this group under its previous young Music Director, Esa-Pekka Salonen. The LA Phil is every bit the juggernaut of the orchestral world; in Thursday’s program, Dudamel drove them like a Ferrari.
The results were undeniably thrilling. Dudamel was physical in The Rite, dancing, jumping, shifting in serpentine shapes with glissandos. He was fully engaged in the piece to a fault. Moments such as the Augurs of Spring were menacing with Dudamel’s fierce gestures matched by guttural playing from the strings. The LA brass and percussion never fail to thrill in this acoustic. A highlight was the Ritual of the Rival Tribes, another strong moment from the conductor whose mastery of the inner workings of this score is impressive.
Yet there was a mystery lacking in the performance. The audacity of The Rite is certainly in its dissonance, gestures toward atonality and rhythmic rawness. But the primal novelty of the piece was portrayed carefully. Conductor and players were in firm command, impressively so, throughout the reading, a level at which would make any orchestra blush with envy. Dudamel could have given more space to the more exposed moments where Stravinsky’s music seems to ooze from the earth, such as in both introductions. Undeniable though was the exquisite playing of the woodwinds, led by principal bassoonist Whitney Crockett.
The Ferrari drove like a dream toward the climax of the Sacrificial Dance, a brooding, shattering sound that blew the roof off Disney Hall. Dudamel’s other Stravinsky offering was likewise fantastic. The Neo-Romantic melodicism of The Firebird Suite showed off each section of the band. Dudamel was right at home with a triumphant reading of this glorious music.
The US premiere of John Adams’ Frenzy opened the evening. An aptly named piece, it is a 20-minute blitz that one would recognize as containing the American composer’s trademark energy. Rare were the minimalist patterns that propel similar pieces of his. Instead, melodic development is passed through sections. The resulting climax was indeed a frenzy, but one missed a more sustained rhythmic development to push the action forward.
Coming up is Mahler’s Second Symphony, after which the LA Phil will embark on a ten-day, three-country tour of Asia with Stravinsky, Mahler and Adams in tow. If Thursday’s program was any indication, this Ferrari is going to have a memorable road trip.
