Dudamel

This is the DVD of the highly-anticipated Los Angeles Philharmonic Opening Night Concert on October 8th 2009, Live from Walt Disney Concert Hall, led by newly-appointed Music Director Gustavo Dudamel! A world-class pairing, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and their new Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, mark the start of their partnership with this concert, filmed live at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The program defines everything that is fresh and exciting about their collaboration: John Adams world-premiere composition, City Noir that steps back into the dark past of Los Angeles, and the all-embracing First Symphony by Mahler, the composer who launched Dudamel's dazzling international career.

Dudamel Discoveries is the perfect compilation album and souvenir release to introduce listeners to the wonderful music of Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela! Gustavo Dudamel, acclaimed worldwide as one of the most exciting and compelling conductors of our time, begins his tenure as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic this October 2009. Composers: Ludwig van Beethoven, Arturo Márquez, Gustav Mahler, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Dmitri Shostakovich

Charles Ives – Complete Symphonies offers fresh insights into the music of a radical thinker, creator of what Leonard Bernstein called “his own private musical revolution.” The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s performances of these works at Walt Disney Concert Hall, conducted by Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, received rave reviews. With their restless energy, myriad colors and textures, irresistible references to popular American melodies and impulsive changes of mood, these symphonies reveal the heart of “a man full of ideas [who] was trying to create something unique,” according to Dudamel. “When you see calm and contemplation, maybe in a moment it’s complete chaos. At the end, what Ives was doing was opening the door to the texture and the personality of music created in the United States. His symphonies are a great gift to the world.”

The 2010 New Year’s Eve concert from Berlin frames two of the most prominent stars on DG’s roster: Elina Garanca and Gustavo Dudamel. Recorded live, this gala performance sparkles with a selection of arias and orchestral works that include excerpts from one of Garanca’s most celebrated roles, Bizet’s Carmen, and Marguerite in Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust. As well as providing world-class accompaniment, the Berlin Philharmonic makes a stirring contribution to the program with the overture to Berlioz’s thrilling Roman Carnival and excerpts from Manuel de Falla’s ballet, The Three-Cornered Hat.

Thibaudet, Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic join to release the rarely recorded Khachaturian concerto. Jean-Yves is the modern-day champion of a work once-famous in the hands of virtuosi such as William Kapell and Oscar Levant. “Thibaudet mastered the score, deftly working the extremes of flashy dynamism and feathery ruminations” (Los Angeles Times). Coupled with short solo piano works including the immortal Adagio from ‘Spartacus’; the Sabre Dance; Lullaby; Masquerade Suite and selections from Pictures of Childhood.

Twenty-four year old Chinese pianist Yuja Wang is widely recognized for playing that combines the spontaneity and fearless imagination of youth with the discipline and precision of a mature artist. Regularly lauded for her controlled, prodigious technique, Yuja’s command of the piano has been described as “astounding” and “superhuman,” and she has been praised for her authority over the most complex technical demands of the repertoire, the depth of her musical insight, as well as her fresh interpretations and graceful, charismatic stage presence.

For their annual season end concert, the Berliner Philharmoniker take the audience on a dreamy, magically journey through the river Rhine with Schumann’s beloved 3rd Symphony Rhenish. Pieces from Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen under the baton of dynamic conductor Gustavo Dudamel complete this evening.