Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, 3 May 2026
Michael Tilson Thomas “Agnegram”
Erich Wolfgang Korngold Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra Op. 35
Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 7 in D minor Op. 70
The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s season continues with rising star violinist María Dueñas returning to the Disney Hall and Andrés Orozco-Estrada making his debut. The night began with a fitting tribute to the late great Michael Tilson Thomas, who in my view was the most important American conductor since his mentor, Leonard Bernstein. Michael Tilson Thomas wrote “Agnegram” as a whimsical birthday tribute for the San Francisco Symphony’s long-time patron, Agnes Albert. The work blends various music Agnes enjoyed, from jazz to classical references such as Tchaikovsky and Irish lullabies, to form a fun mini-concerto for orchestra. While I haven’t warmed to much of his previous work as a composer, I was won over by the Philharmonic’s inspired performance.
Gustav Mahler once dubbed nine-year-old Korngold a “genius”. Seen as the heir apparent to Germany’s proud music tradition, he was sensationally successful at an early age with works such as his opera Die tote Stadt, composed when he was only 23. He later escaped Vienna as the Nazi regime came into power to become a Hollywood composer par excellence. His vivid orchestrations and romantic themes became the foundation of the Hollywood sound. Following years of pressure by fellow European émigré violinist Bronisław Huberman to return to “serious music” in the form of a violin concerto, it would take years for Korngold to deliver on this promise, only to have it premiered by none other than the world’s greatest violinist at the time, Jascha Heifetz. He reworked themes used in his film scores and dedicated it to Mahler’s widow, Alma. Orozco-Estrada and Dueñas take a moderate tempo that downplays its sweep and heart-on-sleeve emotionalism lest it be accused of Hollywood bombast and instead place it as a modern canonical work of the 20th century. The second movement is where Dueñas playing shines best with an expressively shaped adagio. Sentimentality is replaced with exquisite subtle phrasing that demonstrates Dueñas as not just a prodigy of exceptional virtuosity but also someone capable of real emotional depth.
As an encore, Dueñas performed her own arrangement of Agustín Lara’s “Granada” for violin and harp featuring the LA Philharmonic’s principal harpist Emmanuel Ceysson, one of the orchestra’s most renowned players, having served as principal harpist for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Opéra National de Paris. This brief but unique encore provides a taste of her native music from Spain and further evidence that her playing isn’t just a matter of technical proficiency but of a maturity beyond her years, able to make her violin sing as emotionally as the human voice for which the piece was originally written.
Similar to the Korngold concerto, Orozco-Estrada adopts moderate tempos for each of Dvořák’s four movements in the Seventh Symphony. I found these tempos to be generally slower than in his excellent recording of the work when he was music director of the Houston Symphony, yet there is no denying his mastery of the score, aware of every nook and cranny. Orozco-Estrada positions the symphony closer to Dvořák’s contemporary and mentor, Brahms, with a Germanic sense of symphonic structure. What it lacks in forward momentum and Czech flavor it gains in rhythmic and contrapuntal clarity, aided by timpanist Joseph Pereira’s rocksteady playing backed up by the LA Philharmonic’s formidable double bass and lower brass sections. The first movement is some of Dvořák’s finest orchestral writing. Dark, mysterious, and striking, when done right this symphony can rival his Ninth as the finest he ever wrote. The scherzo third movement best demonstrates Orozco-Estrada’s approach, with every line in this dance clearly articulated. The fourth movement is where it pays off, with the orchestra having a rollicking good time in the finale. This is Orozco-Estrada’s debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, yet you would never know it from how well they respond to his dynamic and assured conducting. One wonders if this promising first impression will leave a lasting impact as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s search for a new Music Director continues after Salonen completes his return as Creative Director beginning next season.