The LA Phil's Edinburgh Festival residency goes out with a bang

By Simon Thompson, 04 August 2019

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“their Tchaikovsky Fourth was the most exciting performance of this symphony I’ve heard in years”

Reviewed at Usher Hall, Edinburgh on 4 August 2019

Barber, Adagio for Strings, Op.11

Adams, Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?

Tchaikovsky, Symphony no. 4 in F minor, Op.36

Sousa, Liberty Bell March (Encore)

Yuja Wang, Piano

Los Angeles Philharmonic

Gustavo Dudamel, Conductor

It’s a hero’s life for Gustavo Dudamel at Disney Hall

Néstor Castiglione, 29th May

Dudamel closes in on the end of his Disney Hall tenure in heroic style with Richard Strauss’ tone poem, Ein Heldenleben.

****1

Dudamel’s LA Phil Walküre proves worth the wait

Matthew Richard Martinez, 21st May

An enveloping performance of Die Walküre spans three consecutive evenings, featuring world class singing in Frank Gehry’s stunning space.

****1

LA Phil celebrates the California spirit with Andrés Orozco-Estrada

Cameron Kelsall, 3rd May

The program features Maria Dueñas in Korngold's Violin Concerto and a moving tribute to LA native Michael Tilson Thomas

****1

A cerebral bacchanalia: Young's bold, brainy Messiaen at Disney Hall

Néstor Castiglione, 10th April

Simone Young's take on Messiaen's Turangalîla with the Los Angeles Philharmonic proves a night to remember.

*****

Dudamel and Catalan choirs dazzle in Beethoven’s Missa solemnis

Néstor Castiglione, 20th February

In Los Angeles, Gustavo Dudamel conducts Beethoven's Missa solemnis for the first time... and it proves worth the wait.

*****

Shock, spectacle and endurance: Yuja Wang and Thomas Adès at full tilt

Laurence Vittes, 8th February

If Prokofiev’s original intention in his Second Piano Concerto was shock and awe, Yuja Wang gives exactly the right performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

***11

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Simon Thompson

Simon lives and works in Edinburgh, and teaches History and Modern Studies at a local high school when he is not writing about music. Born an Irishman, he is an enthusiastic adopted Scot, and has lived in the capital for fifteen years since university days, making the most of its many avenues for classical music. He spends his spare time enthusing about music, theatre, art and literature to anyone who will listen, including his long-suffering students, who have no choice.