L.A. Philharmonic Opening Gala 2013
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging
“We’re celebrating this creation and its creator,” said Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Gustavo Dudamel as he gestured to Frank Gehry and to the hall designed by the architect on Monday, September 30, in downtown Los Angeles. Dudamel began the gala evening performance celebrating the 10th anniversary of Walt Disney Concert Hall with John Cage’s “4’33,” a composition that requires the musicians to sit with instruments ready—but silent—for the duration of the four-minute, 33-second piece. “This will help us to discover this place, every corner, every little sound,” said Dudamel before raising his baton for the selection.
Afterwards, as Yo-Yo Ma, accompanied by the L.A. Phil, played Bach’s “Prelude from Cello Suite No. 3” and Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme,” video artist Netia Jones projected images of Gehry’s sketches and models. Next, the orchestra played Adès’ “These Premises Are Alarmed,” the rondo from Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, and part of Saint-Saëns’ “Symphony No. 3” with Joanne Pearce Martin on the organ. The projections continued and images of the building gave way to newspaper headlines that appeared on video screens hanging from the hall’s ceilings. Jones also included sound bites from that hall’s architect, including this gem, “I got blamed for trying to build too complex a building for a long time.”
As an encore, Dudamel selected “When You Wish Upon A Star,” which the orchestra played as silver foil confetti fell from the ceiling. During the post-concert dinner held in a chandelier-lit tent constructed on Grand Avenue, the maestro said he came up with the idea as he was planning the evening’s program. “As a child I loved Disney culture, and I was thinking about what to play—something crazy. Then I thought, ‘Why don’t we play this amazing theme.’” Guests, it seems, will have to wait for the next concert hall milestone to hear the L.A. Phil play “Chim Chim Cher-ee” and other beloved childhood standards.
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