Gustavo Dudamel, L.A. Philharmonic enter final stretch of national tour
Gustavo Dudamel is entering the final leg of his first national tour with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In recent days, the conductor has taken the podium in Phoenix, Chicago, Nashville and Washington, D.C.
On Sunday, the tour got a big boost from CBS' "60 Minutes," which aired a segment on Dudamel and YOLA (Youth Orchestra L.A.). The segment, which was hosted by Bob Simon, featured interviews with Dudamel and his wife, and showed footage from concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.
Music critics around the country so far have been positive, but not unanimously so, when assessing Dudamel and the orchestra. Here's a sampling of some of the major newspaper and online reviews.
Anne Midgette, the Washington Post: "There’s no question that Dudamel is a brilliant talent; but there have always been things to criticize in his approach. He is an instinctive musician, but sometimes seems to conduct for the moment rather than with an eye to the whole work.... The big question about Dudamel has been how he would fare when given the responsibility of charting his own artistic course, and Monday’s concert showed someone who appeared to be moving in the right direction."
Richard Nilsen, the Arizona Republic: "The concert was thrilling. Orchestras routinely talk about creating a sense of occasion, but that isn't something you can do by routine.... The only quibble is that the orchestra, having played the symphony through several concerts, didn't seem quite as spontaneous as they did on opening night in L.A."
Lawrence A. Johnson, the Classical Review: "It’s clear from the bravura performances Friday night at Symphony Center that the out-going [Esa-Pekka] Salonen has not only bequeathed a polished, highly virtuosic ensemble to his young colleague, but that the L.A. Phil is playing with remarkable fire under its new music director."
John von Rhein, the Chicago Tribune: "The concert only partly delivered on the hype, reinforcing worries I've had about Dudamel.... There's no question he is inordinately talented, a brilliant and inspiring podium dervish who can get an orchestra to do anything he wishes while lifting an audience out of its seats. Even so, there sometimes appears to be a disconnect between the musical ends and the means he employs to achieve them. Half-formed interpretative ideas betray a lack of musical depth. The problem is not so much one of faulty instincts as where and how he channels those instincts."
-- David Ng
Photo: Gustavo Dudamel. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times
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To state that the reviews so far have been "mostly positive" may be true of the three of four examples cited above, but there is clearly some cherry picking going on here. Reviews by both Joshua Kosman in the SF Chronicle and Andrew Patner in the Chicago Sun-Times had just as much negative as positive to say about the performances in their cities. Midgette's piece runs pretty much like all of the apology-type reviews that Mark Swed has written for the LA Phil in the last year identifying significant problems with Dudamel's conducting and the orchestra's sound, but sweeping them aside under the glorious banner of euphoria and hype.
It would be far more accurate to report that reviews of the tour so far have been far more negative than the essentially free-ride our sorely overrated new maestro has had in the press so far.
Posted by: jeff | May 18, 2010 at 02:32 PM
Phew. Thanks for the Dudamel update. It's been like 9 hours since the last time you told us what was up with him. I almost had to read about some other culture in LA. Thanks for saving me.
Posted by: Ryan | May 20, 2010 at 07:23 AM
No suprise that the philharmonic gets negative reviews from other critics in cities that also have major orchestras. Classical music criticism is in a sad state, low readership and low intellectual integrity. It seems to me that most critics can be theoritically considered as part time employees of their local orchestras. Promoting the publicity and protecting the turf are their main job functions. This includes those who write for LA Times. I wonder, when newspapers eventually die, on whose payroll would these critics end up to be.
Posted by: Jose | May 21, 2010 at 12:49 AM