Tonight you are hearing from a new voice. . . .
I just have to say a few words about L.A. and music. From our house to the Disney Hall, and the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in the next block, it is exactly one hour and forty minutes on a Sunday morning. So attending weekend matinees in L.A. at one of the halls at The Music Center complex isn’t that hard at all.
We are always thinking about what more we might say to attract people to Palm Springs. Of course, once here, they are smitten and the city sells itself. Usually we write about events and offerings very close to home. But this afternoon, I’ve just listened to a live broadcast from L.A. at Frank Gehry’s Disney Hall, featuring Gustavo Dudamel, their music director-designate, beginning in the fall of 2009. There has been a tremendous amount of excitement about the coming of the new director. For one thing, he is only 27 years old. And for another, he excites his musicians with his passion and brings great energy to the performances. The Times Music Critic, Mark Swed, remarked in his review of last Thursday night, “Had he wished to go to less trouble, he (Dudamel) probably could have drawn a crowd conducting the Thomas Guide.” For the full review, see Dudamel at Disney.
Today’s concert began with a slow, sensual and seductive performance of Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, music which heralds in the beginning of the 20th century. The concert continued with two key 20th century works: Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2 and Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, another lush and seductive work. It featured 100 wordless voices of the Pacific Chorale. Part of the buzz is that Gustavo Dudamel has such a draw that this series of concerts has been sold out for weeks.
As I listened to this music, I only wished that we were there in the hall today to hear and see it live. The Disney Hall is one of Frank Gehry’s great masterpieces with it stainless steel clad soaring wings exterior and its warm hardwood paneled interior, wrapping completley around and over the listeners, and at the front, over the seating behind the orchestra, is a great cluster of organ pipes, which resemble nothing so much as a cone of french fries, splaying out in every direction. The hall is reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House, with a similarly stunning, instantly recognizable exterior and wood clad interior and, of course, the great acoustics.
To understand how important the unfolding drama with this new conductor is, I should mention that Dudamel was featured this morning in the Sunday edition of the L.A.Times, not in the arts section but on the front page of the paper as a headline story – “The Dude” has Los Angeles on a String. Read the full article in The Dude.
I’ll be writing about further musical adventures soon,
Frances@dicksakowicz.com