Victor Carr's 7/8 review of Dudamel/LAPO M1 (DG Concerts)

[barry guerrero]

First off, know that this is a review of the DG Concerts download (I'm assuming it's the download, and not a hard disc). It does not include the John Adams works. I have a couple of comments that I'll place at the very end.


   GUSTAV MAHLER
Symphony No. 1
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

Gustavo Dudamel

Deutsche Grammophon- (Download)
Reference Recording - Bernstein (DG); Walter/New York (Sony); Boulez (DG); Muti (EMI)

    rating: 7/8

    This Mahler Symphony No. 1 comes from Gustavo Dudamel's inaugural concert as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The performance was duly documented and swiftly released by Deustche Grammophon with all the fanfare of a major artistic event. On evidence of the applause at the end, the event certainly impressed the audience at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, but how about the home listener? Well, the fine-sounding live recording does preserve some of the atmosphere and sense of "occasion", but beyond this we've just the performance itself to judge.

    Dudamel obviously knows the music and cultivates a real Mahlerian sound from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which plays beautifully for him. The first movement's pre-dawn opening has the appropriate sense of expectancy, but the climax is let down by barely audible trumpets. In the scherzo the conductor attempts to put his stamp on the music by starting with a slow tempo that builds up speed as it goes along--sort of like a wind-up music box. It's interesting--once. The problem is that Dudamel does this nearly every time the main theme appears, and the gesture goes from novel to gimmicky pretty quickly.

    The funeral march creates a nicely sardonic atmosphere, even if the too-fast dance music doesn't work terribly well. The finale impresses with its prominent bass drum, and Dudamel does churn up a stirring, if not exactly terror-inducing opening storm, with the Los Angeles strings and winds making a virtuoso show of it. The quiet passages benefit from Dudamel's tender caresses, but he tends to rush the big coda, which has less impact due to the recessed-sounding horns (are they not observing Mahler's instruction for the players to stand up?).

    Overall, it's a decent enough Mahler First that, while in no way displacing the great recordings (Bernstein, Boulez, Walter, Muti), does present Dudamel's Los Angeles credentials, making this release of interest to those following this new young maestro's swiftly rising career. Those interested in just hearing great Mahler, however, will do better with the listed alternatives.

    --Victor Carr Jr

B.G.:  This business of starting the scherzo slowly, then speeding up - it's being done quite often now. I can only agree with Victor: do it once at the very beginning of the scherzo, then don't do it again. It's an annoying affectation.

Indeed, the L.A. horn section did stand at the end of the finale.

[sperlsco]

B.G.:  This business of starting the scherzo slowly, then speeding up - it's being done quite often now. I can only agree with Victor: do it once at the very beginning of the scherzo, then don't do it again. It's an annoying affectation.
 

I watched this on PBS.  Indeed I was quite annoyed by Dudamel's decision to do this in the scherzo. 

[Dave H]

I saw it too, and I also agree with Victor, but we have to remember: Dudamel got the job because he's young, telegenic, and has a great story. I was, to be honest, rather shocked at the appointment because he hasn't earned it and in my opinion lacks the experience for such a post. I've heard all of his recordings; none of his work in the basic repertoire is special. I expect him to be reliable, sometimes exciting, and hopefully he will grow into the position and mature as an artist. His Mahler 1 was just average. And yes, the review was of the download, and you can't see the horns on the download .

Best,

Dave

[waderice]

Though it is still a bit early for an overall verdict on Dudamel, this isn't encouraging.  It is disappointing for us experienced in listening to/performing classical music to have to continue to put up with a lot of hype and showmanship just because someone looks thrilling on the podium and puts on a good show.  Similarly, with the limited number of classical music radio stations there are, experienced classical musicians are having to continue to put up with all of the continued repeated playings of the Dvorak New World Symphony in the hopes that those stations hope to gain a larger audience in classical music by doing this.  What this is doing to experienced classical musicians is driving them away.  When and what will it take to get audiences to graduate beyond Classical Music 101 and go to a higher level?  In other words, when and what will it take to get people to gain more of an experience level in classical music to be able to perceive and make an educated judgment on what is and what isn't good performances and musicianship?  It certainly won't benefit occasional listeners of classical music.  It will take years and effort if they care enough to want to learn what is good and what is bad musicianship.

FYI, I gain much satisfaction from listening to Sirius XM Satellite Radio's Symphony Hall station.  There, you can hear composers and works that no FM classical station would ever dream of programming.  Too bad I can only get it in my car.  I guess what I need to do is to look into getting a satellite radio tuner for my home music system.  In the last year of listening to this station, I think they played the New World Symphony only once.