Reviews
Share your comments on this article with other MusicalAmerica.com subscribers.
Dudamel Injured, but the Show Goes On
By David Mermelstein
MusicalAmerica.com
May 7, 2010
LOS ANGELES -- It was a evening of strong contrasts, and not a few surprises, at the Los Angeles Philharmonic last night, as Gustavo Dudamel opened what was to be a preview of his first tour with the orchestra, starting May 10 in San Francisco and concluding in New York 12 days later.
But whatever drama the music held –and there was plenty – paled in comparison to the backstage action that brought not Dudamel, but Philharmonic Associate Conductor Lionel Bringuier to the podium for the program’s second half, Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony, one of the tour’s featured works. Dudamel had apparently pulled a neck muscle during the concert’s first half, a performance of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with Alisa Weilerstein,. To substitute for the suddenly ailing conductor – proof that even youthful vigor is not without limits (he’s 29)– the orchestra tapped Bringuier (all of 24), who had just returned to town in preparation for the tour, on which he’s to be Dudamel’s cover, as he was Esa-Pekka Salonen’s before. (Unclear at this point is whether Dudamel will return for Friday’s 11 a.m. concert of the same music or even Saturday night’s iteration.)
Bringuier [MusicalAmerica.com’s New Musician of the Month for April, 2009] has previously conducted the Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall – leading his own subscription concerts and filling in for ailing guest conductors. But never before had the notice been so short. Still, someone had foresight: when Bringuier arrived on stage after an elongated intermission and an announcement from Philharmonic President and CEO Deborah Borda, he was wearing a black Nehru jacket and not the blue blazer he had on as a member of the audience during the concert’s first half.
Things seemed amiss even before the announcement, especially when a score was placed on the conductor’s music stand and a brass bar was inserted at the back of the podium. Once the situation was clarified, the entire hall filled with an air expectation. Bringuier approached the podium purposefully and to hearty applause. A long silence followed; a listener wondered just how ready this young Frenchman was for the challenge ahead.
And then he began. The result was both languid and agitated. As the music began to move forward, Bringuier wrought some searing climaxes, so strong that the brasses practically pinned listeners to their seats. It was not the most sensitive account of this music, but it got the job done.
The second movement could have used more grace, but by the third Bringuier’s spirited reading had become more controlled, even as he whipped the players into a near frenzy for the triumphal march. Seeing – and hearing – Philharmonic timpanist Joseph Pereira thwack his kettle drums with unusually extreme force made for its own show. And the performance continued to grow in assurance until the fourth movement, in which Bringuier brought the players to a fevered pitch only to then segue into a wonderfully hushed ending, which stopped on a note of silence so long it seemed interminable. Then he released us, allowing the packed house to demonstrate its gratitude with all manner of cheers.
As for the concert’s first half, that had its own strangeness, too. For starters, the Dvorak concerto was a replacement for a new work by Stephen Hartke that has now been postponed. But beyond that, the performance was odd. Weilerstein, 27, is no Yo-Yo Ma. She lacks the muscular sang-froid of more seasoned cellists, so her reading proved introverted. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially in so familiar a piece. But for some reason Dudamel didn’t seem very supportive of this approach, so while the soloist was offering her very personal account, he and the orchestra were attacking the music with unbridled gusto. On its own terms, what he did was viscerally exciting, but in the context of collaborative music making, it was the equivalent of bullying.
Yet on a night that few, if any, in attendance are likely to forget soon, the Dvorak is not what will be recalled. Instead, people will remember how an excitable young conductor got so carried away that he rendered himself useless later in the program, and in the process gave another, even younger, impassioned artist the chance to save the day – something he surely did and for which the Philharmonic must be very grateful.
By David Mermelstein
MusicalAmerica.com
May 7, 2010
LOS ANGELES -- It was a evening of strong contrasts, and not a few surprises, at the Los Angeles Philharmonic last night, as Gustavo Dudamel opened what was to be a preview of his first tour with the orchestra, starting May 10 in San Francisco and concluding in New York 12 days later.
But whatever drama the music held –and there was plenty – paled in comparison to the backstage action that brought not Dudamel, but Philharmonic Associate Conductor Lionel Bringuier to the podium for the program’s second half, Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony, one of the tour’s featured works. Dudamel had apparently pulled a neck muscle during the concert’s first half, a performance of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with Alisa Weilerstein,. To substitute for the suddenly ailing conductor – proof that even youthful vigor is not without limits (he’s 29)– the orchestra tapped Bringuier (all of 24), who had just returned to town in preparation for the tour, on which he’s to be Dudamel’s cover, as he was Esa-Pekka Salonen’s before. (Unclear at this point is whether Dudamel will return for Friday’s 11 a.m. concert of the same music or even Saturday night’s iteration.)
Bringuier [MusicalAmerica.com’s New Musician of the Month for April, 2009] has previously conducted the Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall – leading his own subscription concerts and filling in for ailing guest conductors. But never before had the notice been so short. Still, someone had foresight: when Bringuier arrived on stage after an elongated intermission and an announcement from Philharmonic President and CEO Deborah Borda, he was wearing a black Nehru jacket and not the blue blazer he had on as a member of the audience during the concert’s first half.
Things seemed amiss even before the announcement, especially when a score was placed on the conductor’s music stand and a brass bar was inserted at the back of the podium. Once the situation was clarified, the entire hall filled with an air expectation. Bringuier approached the podium purposefully and to hearty applause. A long silence followed; a listener wondered just how ready this young Frenchman was for the challenge ahead.
And then he began. The result was both languid and agitated. As the music began to move forward, Bringuier wrought some searing climaxes, so strong that the brasses practically pinned listeners to their seats. It was not the most sensitive account of this music, but it got the job done.
The second movement could have used more grace, but by the third Bringuier’s spirited reading had become more controlled, even as he whipped the players into a near frenzy for the triumphal march. Seeing – and hearing – Philharmonic timpanist Joseph Pereira thwack his kettle drums with unusually extreme force made for its own show. And the performance continued to grow in assurance until the fourth movement, in which Bringuier brought the players to a fevered pitch only to then segue into a wonderfully hushed ending, which stopped on a note of silence so long it seemed interminable. Then he released us, allowing the packed house to demonstrate its gratitude with all manner of cheers.
As for the concert’s first half, that had its own strangeness, too. For starters, the Dvorak concerto was a replacement for a new work by Stephen Hartke that has now been postponed. But beyond that, the performance was odd. Weilerstein, 27, is no Yo-Yo Ma. She lacks the muscular sang-froid of more seasoned cellists, so her reading proved introverted. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially in so familiar a piece. But for some reason Dudamel didn’t seem very supportive of this approach, so while the soloist was offering her very personal account, he and the orchestra were attacking the music with unbridled gusto. On its own terms, what he did was viscerally exciting, but in the context of collaborative music making, it was the equivalent of bullying.
Yet on a night that few, if any, in attendance are likely to forget soon, the Dvorak is not what will be recalled. Instead, people will remember how an excitable young conductor got so carried away that he rendered himself useless later in the program, and in the process gave another, even younger, impassioned artist the chance to save the day – something he surely did and for which the Philharmonic must be very grateful.
More Reviews >>
Share your comments on this article with other MusicalAmerica.com subscribers.
