It was a wonderful opening night of the Hollywood Bowl for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The hot day gave way to a lovely evening with a touch of coolness in the air. The new parking system, with fewer areas and more area for public transportation and ride-sharing services, appears to be working well.
“Scheherazade” was the main course. Although Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite has sent dazzling ripples of color through the Cahuenga Pass over the past century, it sounded brighter, fresher, and more seductive than ever, thanks to the orchestra’s virtuosity and adequate amplification.
Thanks also to Gustavo Dudamel, although only indirectly. For the first time in the 15 seasons he’s been musical director, he may not perform at his beloved Bowl until the final weeks of summer. But it’s still his orchestra, and on Tuesday’s podium, a former Dudamel intern made her Bowl. still.
Elim Chan, music director of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in Belgium, is possibly not yet well known to the general public. This will change. He has just released his first recording with his orchestra and it is fantastic, ending with a delightful rendition of the second suite of Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloé”.
In addition to an enticing invitation to lead the opening of the Bowl, Chan can look forward to exceptional exposure in London next week, when he oversees the first night of the Proms. It is the largest classical music festival in the world and the most far-reaching. , with live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 of the evening concerts.
In Los Angeles, Chan’s appearances at the Walt Disney Concert Hall have already proven notable. Last year, she received 15 minutes of unwanted viral fame for her performance of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, when an audience member had an audible incident that some attributed to an orgasm. Then, in October, his reading of Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances so enthused the orchestra that rumors began to circulate that the 36-year-old Hong Kong conductor was a favorite for the next music director. Some music industry insiders insisted it was a done deal.
That remains to be seen, of course. On Monday, Kim Noltemy debuted as Los Angeles’ new president and leading CEO. Phil, and until now, has kept an unusually low profile (for this orchestra). However, on Tuesday night, there was conspicuously a musical director audition of sorts, as were upcoming performances by other potential candidates.
The Hollywood Bowl, however, can be a wonderful indicator of the wonderful or a terrible indicator. Rehearsal time is limited to the morning of the concert. Audio engineers have a say in the instrumental balances we hear. Video can be a help or a distraction.
When an unknown 24-year-old Gustavo Dudamel made his United States debut at the Hollywood Bowl in 2005, we knew it immediately. When an unknown Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, 28, made hers nine years later, we knew immediately. But when the well-known Kirill Petrenko made his Bowl debut in 2007, the now much-admired music director of the Berliner Philharmoniker simply wasn’t cut out for the place.
Tuesday night may turn out to be another “we knew it. ” Chan was in his element. Opening the show with Korean composer Unsuk Chin’s “subito con forza” (suddenly with power), it took him less than 10 seconds to perform. The score was commissioned for the Proms in 2020 as a tribute to Beethoven, and opens with the famous and compelling opening of the “Coriolanus” overture. The strong, long-held C in the strings, followed by a staccato chord strongly attacked in the orchestra, heralds one of Beethoven’s wonderful attractions.
Chin, however, immediately interrupted the action with incredibly shaky percussion, screeching upper harmonics on the violins, and a menacing low C hum on the cellos. In a dizzying moment, we were transported to a truly enchanting place. As conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chan pulled off this deception and others that followed like a magician not only with a stick, but also with convincingly expressive hands and facial gestures that conveyed a sense of wonder.
She took a back seat to Augustin Hadelich, the authorized soloist in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, but became an author of theatrical magic with “Scheherazade”. Rimsky offers many instrumental solos. Orchestral musicians love nothing more than to shine. And they did. But they also gave him a private sound – and a glimpse of the big video screens – as if, for a player, they were voting for him.
Adding to what had already been a very intelligent evening for the violin, Nathan Cole played the role of first violin in the solos that constitute Scheherazade’s hauntingly elegant looks. But in a radical new replacement for L. A. Phil, Cole will have his first evening. as the Boston Symphony’s new concertmaster on Friday, when he joins the Tanglewood Orchestra to perform “Scheherazade” (this one conducted by BSO music director Andris Nelsons).
Cole, who will share his duties as L. A. ‘s associate concertmasterPhil in his prestigious new position is the next member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Boston Symphony Orchestra, led by the former president and CEO of L. A. But what that now is anyone’s guess now that the Los Angeles Philharmonic is moving, with little transparency, into uncharted territory.
As a great and simple first step in signaling that the orchestra wants to pass first, Noltemy might recommend a small replacement in this year’s Hollywood Bowl program. Next to Noltey’s welcome note on page four is a prominent list of Los Angeles board members. than the list of musicians, which is buried on page 60.
A simple step for the moment would probably have been to simply watch the Hollywood Bowl.
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