In Friday’s (5/11) Los Angeles Times, Mark Swed writes, “The New York Philharmonic became one of the last of the world’s most important orchestras to finally perform in Walt Disney Concert Hall on Wednesday night. … For the second night of a quick California excursion, which began at Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa on Tuesday night and which is surprisingly the orchestra’s first U.S. tour since Alan Gilbert became music director in 2009, the New York Philharmonic also brought along its own staggering sound. Gilbert has the reputation of being a thoughtful, capable, cautious conductor, not a firebrand. He is clearly out to change that. What the orchestra really packed for Disney—a program that began with Dvorák’s very familiar ‘Carnival’ and ended with Tchaikovsky’s very, very familiar Fourth Symphony but also included Magnus Lindberg’s new Piano Concerto No. 2 with Yefim Bronfman as soloist—was its capacity to deliver a considerable punch. I’m still reeling a bit from the blistering Berlioz ‘Le Corsaire’ Overture encore. … Gilbert’s Dvorák and Tchaikovsky were, in fact, startlingly hypercharged. He’s got a thoroughbred orchestra at his disposal, and he’s learned to ride it magnificently.”
Posted May 11, 2012
