Review: Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic
Vivid rhythms, colourful orchestration and shaping the dramatic arc of the music are some of the things Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic do so well together, as they showed in performing John Adams' City Noir and Dvorak's Symphony No 9 From the New World.
Conductor Gustavo Dudamel has a way of setting up a groove that creates an irresistible momentum. Vivid rhythms, colourful orchestration and shaping the dramatic arc of the music are some of the things he and the Los Angeles Philharmonic do so well together, as they showed in performing John Adams' and Dvorak's Symphony No 9 .
Adams was one of the founding fathers of minimalism, but now it's just one shade on his multicoloured palette. A brilliant orchestrator, he has created a sound world of pulsing, glittering keyboards and drum set woven into the orchestra.
, inspired by film noir, evokes a hazy landscape of LA nights interspersed with gutsy, brash jazziness. The alert listener could catch flips of harmony and twists in rhythm that kept the music fresh.
