It was a beautiful opening night at the Hollywood Bowl for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The warm day gave way to a pleasant evening with a hint of chill in the air. The new parking system, with fewer spots and more room for public transportation and ride-sharing services, seemed to work well.
“Scheherazade” was the highlight. Much as Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite has often sent waves of dazzling color through the Cahuenga Pass over the past century, it sounded brighter, fresher and more engaging than ever, thanks both to the sheer virtuosity of the orchestra and to the excellent amplification.
Thanks also to Gustavo Dudamel, though only indirectly. For the first time in his 15 seasons as musical director, he will not appear at his beloved Bowl until the last weeks of summer. But it is still his orchestra, and on the podium Tuesday, a former Dudamel Fellow made her Bowl debut.
Elim Chan, music director of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in Belgium, may not yet be well known to the general public. But that is about to change. She has just released her first recording with her orchestra, which is magnificent and ends with a dazzling performance of the second suite from Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chloe.”
As well as the invitation to conduct the opening of the Bowl, Chan can look forward to exceptional visibility in London next week when he oversees the first night of the Proms. It is the world's largest classical music festival and the most far-reaching, with live broadcasts of the evening's concerts on BBC Radio 3.
In Los Angeles, Chan’s appearances at the Walt Disney Concert Hall have already proven notable. Last year, she earned her 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, her reading of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances so enthused the orchestra that rumors began to circulate that the 36-year-old conductor from Hong Kong was the favorite to become the next music director. Some music business insiders insisted it was already a done deal.
That, of course, remains to be seen. On Monday, Kim Noltemy took over as the new president and CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and has so far kept an unusually low profile (for this orchestra). Nonetheless, Tuesday night was obviously something of an audition for music director, as were the upcoming performances of other potential candidates.
The Hollywood Bowl, however, can be an excellent indicator of greatness or dread. Rehearsal time is usually limited to the morning of the concert. Sound 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 American debut at the Hollywood Bowl in 2005, we knew instantly. When an unknown 28-year-old Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla made hers nine years later, we knew instantly. But when a little-known Kirill Petrenko made his Bowl debut in 2007, the now much-admired music director of the Berlin Philharmonic simply wasn't the right venue for the event.
Elim Chan at the Bowl on Tuesday.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Tuesday night could easily turn into another “we already knew it.” Chan was in his element. Opening the program with Korean composer Unsuk Chin’s “subito con forza” (suddenly with power), he needed less than 10 seconds to make his point. The score was commissioned for the Proms in 2020 as a tribute to Beethoven, and begins with the famously compelling opening of the “Coriolan” overture. The long-held, strong C in the strings followed by a sharply attacked staccato chord in the orchestra announces one of Beethoven’s great wake-up calls.
However, Chin interrupted the action immediately with wildly trembling percussion, shrill, screeching harmonics in the violins, and an ominous low-C hum in the cellos. In one dizzying instant, we were transported to a strange and strangely pleasant place. Leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chan used this and other tricks that followed like a magician not only with a baton but also with convincingly expressive fingers and facial gestures that conveyed a sense of wonder.
Soloist Augustin Hadelich performs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Bowl.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
She took a backseat to Augustin Hadelich, the authoritative soloist in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, but once again became a creator of theatrical magic with Scheherazade. Rimsky offers plenty of instrumental solos. Orchestral musicians love nothing more than to shine. And they did. But they also made it sound (and look) personal on the big video screens, as if they were voting for her.
To round out what had already been a very good evening for violin, Nathan Cole was the concertmaster for solos that depict the haunting beauty of Sherazade. But in another radical departure for the LA Phil, Cole will have his first night as the Boston Symphony’s new concertmaster on Friday, when he joins the orchestra at Tanglewood for another “Sherazade” (this time conducted by BSO music director Andris Nelsons).
Cole, who will share his duties as first associate concertmaster of the LA Phil with his prestigious new position, is the next step in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s restructuring of the Boston Symphony, led by former LA Phil president and CEO Chad Smith. But what that means now is anyone’s guess, as the LA Phil ventures, with little transparency, into uncharted territory.
As a nice, simple first step toward signaling that the orchestra should come first, Noltemy might suggest a small change to this year’s Hollywood Bowl program. Next to Noltemy’s welcome note on page 4 is a prominent list of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s board members instead of the list of musicians, which is buried on page 60.
An easy second step may have become apparent at the Hollywood Bowl.
Chan's connection to the Los Angeles Philharmonic was evident.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
