By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
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Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Lang Lang, piano
Borodin: Polovtsian Dances; Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 No. 3 in C major, Op. 26; Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 • Hollywood Bowl
Next concert: Thursday (same program)
Info: www.hollywoodbowl.com
The revision is to correct the start time of Sunday's performance of Puccini's Turandot to 7:30 p.m.
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Gustavo Dudamel and Lang Lang are two of the biggest names in classical music these days and 9,513 people came last night to Hollywood Bowl to see them perform together for the first time. That seems like a lot of folks — and given that the concert repeats tomorrow night perhaps it is — but it’s barely half the Bowl’s capacity. Some reasons for that are will be discussed in a future post but those who showed up got a quintessential Lang Lang show, courtesy of Prokofiev’s third piano concerto.
This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s annual summer sojourn in the venerable Cahuenga Pass amphitheatre. Although the negatives of Bowl concerts remain — e.g., rolling wine bottles, aerial intruders, patrons walking to and fro incessantly — those who make the trip continue to feel that visceral thrill that comes from a live performance.
It helps that these days the Phil has a music director who genuinely embraces the egalitarian nature of playing outdoors before large crowds. Dudamel first conducted the L.A. Phil at the Bowl in 2005 and led his inaugural concert as LAPO music director there in 2009. Last season, he was on the podium for three concerts during a week and will lead four programs over five nights in a two-week span this season. Not since Zubin Mehta has the Phil enjoyed a music director who seems to embrace all of the Bowl’s potential (as well to seemingly ignore its problems).
Dudamel and Lang got no help last night from the electronic technical crew. Whether it was the damp air or the fact that this was the first classical concert of the season, the overwrought and tubby amplification was highly distorted and the camera work was mediocre to the max. One can only hope that things improve significantly for tomorrow night’s repeat concert.
In many ways, this was a typical performance by the pianist, who turned age 29 last month: hands roaring at warp speed through manic, pile-driving octaves in a manner that defies description, interspersed with occasional dreamy, introspective moments. There were times when the pianist seemed totally in his own world, often staring out into the black outdoor void; at other moments he was playful and animated in his facial gestures and actions. Whether he’s toning down the histrionics or I’ve just gotten used to him, none of this shtick seemed as off-putting as it once was. Somehow last night it seemed appropriate for a facility with the name “Hollywood” in its title.
Dudamel and the Phil offered vigorous accompaniment in the concerto. Michelle Zukovsky got things off splendidly with her winsome clarinet solo and also engaged in a witty musical dialogue with the pianist during the first movement. The blazing final sections of the first and last movement brought forth predictable eruptions of applause. Incredibly after the final suicide-speed final section, Lang-squared was able to deliver a wispy, dreamy, exquisite rendition of Liszt’s Consolation No. 3 as an encore.
The concert opened with Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances that began with sensitive solos by Principal Oboe Ariana Ghez and English horn principal Carolyn Hove in the first statement of the Strangers in Paradise theme and concluded in a colorful blaze of fury.
After intermission, Dudamel and the Phil unveiled an interesting rendition of the Mussorgsky/Ravel version of Pictures at an Exhibition. You may not have liked everything in Dudamel’s concept, but to these ears he made a persuasive case for this very familiar work. Principal Trumpet Donald Green and the brass section got things off with a noble Promenade, saxophonist James Rotter made the most of his solos in Il vecchio castello, the Catacombs were eerily spooky, and The Great Gate of Kiev finished things in majestic fashion.
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Hemidemisemiquavers:
• Probably figuring that it wasn’t worth the effort in a concert with both Lang Lang and Dudamel, management didn’t make the usual announcement about no cameras or cell phones.
• If, like me, you ride the Metro Red Line to the Bowl, be advised that there’s a new shuttle location at the Hollywood/Highland stop. From the station, make a right into the Hollywood/Highland complex and follow the signs — the new stop is down a corridor from Lids on the second floor. You can also get off at the Universal City station and walk south under the 101 freeway bridge and west on Ventura Blvd. to reach the Park and Ride lot.
• Given the doomsday predictions about freeway traffic throughout the region because of this weekend’s “Carmageddon” (i.e., the closure of the 405 Freeway), this might be a good time to consider taking the Red Line to the Bowl for this weekend’s concerts (rides on the Red Line and Orange are free this coming weekend but not on the other lines). Get info at www.metro.net. However you are planning on getting to the Bowl, allow plenty of extra time and remember that Sunday night's performance of Puccini's Turandot begins at 7:30 p.m.
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(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.
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