Angels, devils, rites and Python: the LA Phil in London

By David Karlin, 19 November 2019

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“the closing Dance of the Earth was a proper piece of shock and awe”

Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 18 November 2019

Ginastera, Variaciones concertantes, Op.23

Adams, Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?

Tilson Thomas, You Come Here Often?

Kapustin, Toccatina

Liszt, Gretchen am Spinnrade, D 558 no. 8 (transcribed from Schubert D 118)

Stravinsky, Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring)

Sousa, Liberty Bell March

Los Angeles Philharmonic

Gustavo Dudamel, Conductor

Yuja Wang, Piano

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

John Adams leads Americana, past and present, with LA Phil

Néstor Castiglione, 23rd January

Compelling as a composer and conductor, Adams restored Roy Harris' Third Symphony to the Los Angeles repertoire, alongside one of his most recent works.

*****

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David Karlin

David is a co-founder of Bachtrack. He is a musical omnivore interested in almost all types of music, but with a particular love of Italian opera. You can contact him from this link.

Angels, devils, rites and Python: Dudamel, Yuja Wang and the LA Phil come to London