Earl Lee’s “Resurrection” steals the show at LA Phil’s Mahlerthon

Colburn Orchestra

Kayleigh Decker and Madison Leonard

UCLA Philharmonia

USC Thornton Symphony

By Néstor Castiglione, 04 March 2025

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“anyone jaded by Mahler ought to have heard his heroic unto messianic reading of the Resurrection”

Reviewed at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles on 2 March 2025

Mahler, Symphony no. 6 in A minor "Tragic"

Mahler, Piano Quartet in A minor

Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (trans. Schoenberg)

Mahler, Symphony no. 2 in C minor "Resurrection"

UCLA Philharmonia

Neal Stulberg, Conductor

USC Thornton Symphony

Joo Won Chae, Mezzo-soprano

Brent McMunn, Conductor

Madison Leonard, Soprano

Kayleigh Decker, Mezzo-soprano

Los Angeles Master Chorale

Colborn Orchestra

Earl Lee, Conductor

Salonen and the LA Philharmonic take on the forces of nature

Néstor Castiglione, 9th January

Reflections of nature and humanity's place within it in Salonen's 2026 return

****1

Dudamel turns inward with Mahler’s Resurrection in Los Angeles

Laurence Vittes, 12th October

Gustavo Dudamel continues his farewell season with a taut, searching Mahler Resurrection at Disney Hall, a performance of clarity and humility that seeks communion with the composer’s restless soul.

***11

Dudamel and LA Phil launch their final season together

Matthew Richard Martinez, 25th September

The world premiere of Ellen Reid's Earth Between Oceans creates a compelling partnership with Strauss' Alpensinfonie.

*****

Zubin Mehta finds fountain of youth in LA Phil’s Gurre-Lieder

Néstor Castiglione, 13th December

A memorable, impassioned performance of Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder in Disney Hall.

*****

Dudamel leads LA Phil in exuberant celebration of Día de los Muertos

Sam Jacobson, 1st November

Gustavo Dudamel selects a trio of works by Latin American composers for a colorful and extravagant evening at the LA Phil.

****1

Zest and spirit in Adams' Girls of the Golden West in Los Angeles

Laurence Vittes, 27th January

John Adams' opera, in its third revision since its 2017, receives an outstanding concert performance in Walt Disney Concert Hall under the composer's baton.

****1

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Néstor Castiglione

Néstor Castiglione is a freelance music critic, program note annotator, translator, and lecturer born and raised in Los Angeles. Aside from classical music, he also writes and lectures on the culture and popular music of early Shōwa Japan (1925 – 1945). His website is Echorrhea and you can also follow him on Instagram @echorrhea.