Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, 28 September 2025
Ellen Reid: Earth Between Oceans
Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie
This Sunday I had the pleasure of experiencing Gustavo Dudamel conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a new piece by Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Ellen Reid, Earth Between Oceans, and Richard Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie. Now in his 17th and final season as music director, the concert opened on a bittersweet note. A packed crowd was rapt with praise for the maestro as he took the stage, the extended ovation reflecting the appreciation the LA audience has for many years of incredible music-making.
Those of us fortunate to be in Los Angeles during his tenure have seen him mature from a bright-faced, big-haired young prodigy famous for his flamboyant mannerisms and unbridled enthusiasm. The endless sense of enthusiasm remains, now backed with years of wisdom working through these scores—and more than his fair share of gray hairs. His instrument is the highly virtuosic Los Angeles Philharmonic. Their many years together have formed a deep rapport, perfectly attuned to his every whim. They start their season with two imposing symphonic pieces inspired by the natural world.
The concert began with Ellen Reid’s Earth Between Oceans, an LA Phil commission written for a large orchestra with plenty of percussion, field recordings, and choir, with a stellar contribution from the LA Master Chorale under Grant Gershon’s direction. Reid’s piece is about the natural world, though hers is a more troubled view than Strauss’, reflecting recent social and environmental turmoil. She dedicates her piece to Dudamel and pays tribute to the two cities that have shaped their musical lives: New York and Los Angeles. Structured in four movements, each evoking an element—“Earth,” “Air,” “Fire,” and “Water”—it most memorably culminates in a haunting, volcanic contribution from the LA Master Chorale in the third movement, “Fire,” Reid’s musical response to the devastating fires in Southern California. Time will tell if Reid’s musical expression of a recent tragedy will resonate. What ultimately won me over was the final movement’s optimistic note. In “Water,” the entire ensemble plays in unison, ebbing and flowing like the element that inspired it. This creates a sense of peace, picturing LA’s coastal blue waters and golden sunshine that felt earned after half an hour of varying moods and contrasting rhythms. Occupying the entire first half of the concert, it is a special showcase for a contemporary composer and demonstrative of Dudamel’s championing of original work.
After intermission, Dudamel returned to lead the orchestra in Strauss’ longest, largest, and last orchestral work, Eine Alpensinfonie. Critics of this piece downplay it as a trite demonstration of orchestration, dismissing it as shallow program music favoring technique over substance. Dudamel illuminates the spiritual component and turns Strauss’ musical hike up and down a mountain into a magnificent hymn to nature, reminiscent of the earthy profundity found in the best performances of Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony. This is an orchestral showpiece that wonderfully features the muscular sound Dudamel has cultivated during his time with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He conducts without a score, a feat I’ve seen him accomplish before with Mahler symphonies and have always been impressed by. His keen ear for detail not only allows him to hit the big moments in this piece but also to smoothly transition from one to another, handling the incidental passages with as much care as the climaxes. The result is an extremely cohesive performance, greater than the sum of its parts. The LA Phil has a wonderfully powerful lower brass section, and they had plenty of opportunities to shine, along with the percussion section giving power and impact to the thunderstorm scene in the score. While the orchestra surely misses its former concertmaster of 30 years, Martin Chalifour, we did get a glimpse of a bright future ahead with a stellar solo from newly appointed principal oboist Ryan Roberts. I heard this orchestra give a thrilling performance of this piece years ago under Semyon Bychkov, but they sound more inspired under their music director, rising to the occasion to celebrate their last season together.
This program is a beautiful way to start Dudamel’s final season with his LA family—a perfect demonstration of his advocacy for significant new music and a fresh, powerful take on a standard warhorse. Dudamel started his time in Los Angeles with the potential to be the greatest advocate for classical music of his generation. He leaves as its strongest champion, for he carries the true spirit of classical music both in his reverence for the greatness of the past and in continuing the legacy with exciting new creations. For anyone in the Los Angeles area, take advantage of each remaining concert. A once-in-a-lifetime legend is in your midst and should not be missed.
