“No orchestra has ever come close to the ambition of this centennial season” at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, writes Mark Swed in Tuesday’s (2/7) Los Angeles Times. “It all begins (an extravagant celebration of L.A.) and ends (Mahler’s immense ‘Symphony of the Thousand’) with [Gustavo] Dudamel…. Forget a mere 50 commissions pointing the way to the future. The latest list shows 54. There will be ever more of the elaborate productions and collaborations with dancers, actors, filmmakers, visual artists, media artists and others that the L.A. Phil has made a practice of pioneering…. Dudamel will [take] on a Haydn/Beethoven cycle of concertos, symphonies and masses; and [celebrate] his love for the movies with a John Williams salute and the L.A. Phil’s first participation at the Academy Awards…. The opening gala will concentrate on California music, from Adams to Frank Zappa.… Principal guest conductor [Susanna] Mälkki will [take] on Messiaen’s epic ‘Turangalila’ Symphony. [John] Adams’ … new piece for the centennial is a piano concerto for Yuja Wang called ‘Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?’ … Adams will conduct the world premiere of Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 12.”
Posted February 8, 2018
