Shocking as it may seem, although many of the world’s great orchestras have visited Walt Disney Concert Hall in the almost nine years since it officially opened, the New York Philharmonic hasn’t been one of them. That is, until May 9 when they came to town led by their fairly recently appointed music director, Alan [...]

Sir Simon Rattle returned to Los Angeles this past weekend to conduct the LA Philharmonic in an ambitious program including Atmosphères by György Ligeti, the Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin by Wagner, the Rückert-Lieder by Mahler featuring mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozená, and the Symphony No. 9 in D minor by Bruckner.
Rattle, who was last in [...]

On March 15, Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi conducted the first in a series of concerts as part of the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival featuring the Cello Concerto in B minor by Dvorák with soloist Ralph Kirshbaum and the Symphony No. 5 in D minor by Shostakovich. Also on the program was the Carnival Overture by [...]

On Thursday night, Gustavo Dudamel continued his Mahler marathon by conducting his hometown band, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (SBSOV) (formerly the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra), in a rousing, impassioned performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Mahler began writing the first two movements of his [...]

The relatively young (he’s 43) Peruvian conductor of the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, returned to LA (where he was assistant and then associate conductor from 1998-2004) on Saturday, Jan. 7, to conduct an LA Phil, without many of its principals, in three works, the Hussite Overture by Dvorák, the Piano Concerto No. 2 [...]

The 2011-2012 season of the LA Philharmonic continues on Thursday, Jan. 5, with the first of four concerts featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performing the Lizst Piano Concerto No. 2 in honor of the anniversary of the composer’s 200th birthday. Also on the program are the Hussite Overture by Dvorák and the Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3, [...]

It was in 1991 that the famed Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), one of the oldest ensembles in the United States (it was founded in 1881; the LA Phil, by comparison, was founded in 1919) last performed in Los Angeles, and that was in the LA Phil’s then-home at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
On Dec. 10, the [...]

Los Angeles is fortunate to have in our midst at least two internationally recognized conductors, Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the LA Phil, and James Conlon, music director of the LA Opera.
The LA Phil is also fortunate to get Conlon to walk across the street from his usual home at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to [...]

Gustavo Dudamel continued to demonstrate his mastery of the standard orchestral repertoire last night when he led the LA Philharmonic in a performance of two major works: Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K 466, with Richard Goode at the keyboard, and the tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss.
Friday evening’s concert [...]

Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1809, and grew up as a child of privilege who started composing before he was a teenager. Gustavo Dudamel was born in 1981 in Barquismeto, Venezuela, and grew up with decidedly less privilege. He, too, has achieved renown at a young age. Differences aside, the two came [...]