Dudamel will lead concert performances of 'Die Walküre' in final Los Angeles Philharmonic season
Gustavo Dudamel will conduct concert performances of Wagner's 'Die Walküre' in a highlight of his 17th and final season as the Los Angeles Philharmonic's music director.
He will lead one act per performance from May 19-21 and repeat the programs from May 22-24 with a cast that includes Christine Goerke and Ryan Speedo Green, the orchestra said Thursday in announcing a 2025-26 season it is calling 'Gracias Gustavo.' Scenic design will be by Frank Gehry, the architect of Walt Disney Hall.
Dudamel will conduct John Adams' 'Harmonium' and Antonio Estévez's 'Cantata Criolla' from June 5-7, 2026, in his final concerts at Disney Hall as music director. Dudamel chose the works to honor his Venezuelan and American identities.
He will lead the orchestra in its 2026 Hollywood Bowl season before starting as music director of the New York Philharmonic in 2026.
LA's season opens on Sept. 25 with Dudamel and a world premiere of a currently untitled work for orchestra and choir by Pulitzer Prize winner composer Ellen Reid that was co-commissioned with the New York Philharmonic.
He takes the orchestra on a tour of Seoul, South Korea; Tokyo; and Taipei, Taiwan, from Oct. 20-30.
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The Guardian
16-05-2025
- The Guardian
LSO/Dudamel/Rebeka review – relentless orchestral fireworks and bright moments
Launching a concert with Strauss's Don Juan makes quite a statement: those madcap opening seconds, the music scrambling from the bottom of the orchestra in a bravura sweep before blooming into an irresistibly cavalier and heroic melody. It seemed a very Gustavo Dudamel way for the starry conductor to begin his first London appearance with the London Symphony Orchestra, after concerts in Spain last week. Dudamel drove the music hard and fast: it was full of firework explosions that dissolved into sparkling blurs of light. On one level it was thrilling. On another, it soon began to feel a little narrow. Dudamel let the brightest moments scythe through the texture – an ear-splitting glockenspiel, a brief but brazen trumpet solo – and yet the general orchestral sound was so thickly blended as to be almost homogenised. There was little sense of the music bubbling with detail, and a limited depth to the sound. This might not have mattered so much had the concert not been entirely of music by Strauss and Ravel, two of the 20th century's most meticulous musical colourists. At least the opening of Ravel's Shéhérazade showed that the orchestra could still play quietly. The soprano soloist was Marina Rebeka. Spinning out long, fluid lines, she captured the languid quality of these songs beautifully but was less convincing in conveying the wordiness of their poetry or the sense of wanderlust that drives the first song in particular. Instrumental highlights included Gareth Davies's flute solos in the second movement, first energised, then returning quiet and distant at the end. The orchestral palette broadened after the interval for Ravel's Rapsodie Espagnole, with a beguiling softness to the mesmerising repeated figure in the first movement, and a sultriness in the Habanera that put the taut, shiny finale into relief. Finally there was the orchestral suite from Strauss's opera Der Rosenkavalier, in which the central waltz was full of character but the climactic music was pushed onwards relentlessly. The whole concert was pacy and entertaining, but it left the impression that the LSO is a huge paintbox, the darkest and softest colours of which Dudamel has only just begun to explore.
Times
15-05-2025
- Times
LSO/Dudamel review — an inspired conductor finds his mojo again
★★★★★Churlishly I considered knocking a star off the rating for this gloriously exuberant fiesta of a concert because the Barbican audience weren't really given anything profound or meaty, dark or foreboding, to ponder. But honestly, who needs soul-baring symphonies when you have Gustavo Dudamel guiding, galvanising and coaxing the London Symphony Orchestra through a succession of Ravel and Strauss scores that shimmered with sensuality and showcased virtuosity all round the band? You can sometimes tell what a concert is going to be like from the first bar of music. This one was launched by a surge of notes so exhilarating yet so precisely co-ordinated that you forgot for a moment how difficult it is for some conductors to start Strauss's Don Juan at all.
Western Telegraph
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Torch Theatre: Royal Opera House screening in Pembrokeshire
The Pembrokeshire theatre is embarking on its 'cinema season,' which will kick off with a live screening of 'Die Walküre' (The Valkyrie) by The Royal Ballet and Opera. This opera-ballet extravaganza will be directed by Barrie Kosky and conducted by Antonio Pappano. The screening brings Wagner's tale of gods and mortals battling it out further, following the saga that began with 'Das Rheingold' in 2023. The storyline follows a love entwined with fate that could potentially be powerful enough to end the world. Meanwhile, an epic confrontation ensues between Wotan, played by Christopher Maltman, the king of gods, and his rebellious daughter Brünnhilde, enacted by Elisabet Strid. Viewers will be treated to a visually compelling stage setup by designer Rufus Didwiszus, with costumes by Victoria Behr and lighting by Alessandro Carletti. Critically acclaimed by the Guardian's Erica Jeal who gave the show four stars, the production will be sung in German with translated captions for English speakers. The show starts at 2pm on Sunday, May 18. Tickets are priced at £20 per person, with a concessional rate of £18. Those under the age of 26 can enter at £9 per head. Further information can be found on the Torch Theatre website or via telephone on 01646 695267. The Royal Opera House is renowned for its ballet and opera productions. For those in need of further assistance, contact the Box Office.
