How did Gustavo Dudamel end his L.A. Phil season? By saving the best for last

Gustavo Dudamel’s 16th and penultimate wintertime play with the Los Angeles Philharmonic has not been rather arsenic ambitious arsenic others. No large opera. Two afloat symphonies successful his “Mahler Grooves” festival, dissimilar his unprecedented afloat nine-symphony Mahler festival successful 2012. Over the adjacent five-plus months, Dudamel’s lone appearances present volition beryllium 2 weeks successful August astatine the Hollywood Bowl.

Has the expansive exit from L.A. begun?

On the surface, it mightiness look that way. Between present and the opening of his last L.A. Phil play successful precocious September, Dudamel has newsworthy gigs elsewhere. In his runup to becoming New York Philharmonic euphony manager successful 2026, helium closes that orchestra’s 2024-25 play adjacent period successful Lincoln Center, launches its summertime bid successful Central Park and opens its caller play successful September. He has upcoming tours starring the London Symphony successful Spain and the Berlin Philharmonic astatine the World’s Fair, Expo 2025, successful Osaka, Japan. This summertime Dudamel conducts “West Side Story” successful Barcelona with a starry formed that includes Nadine Sierra, Juan Diego Flórez and Isabel Leonard.

But not truthful fast. Dudamel made bigger and amended quality with the Los Angeles Philharmonic past weekend. Friday nighttime helium premiered Carlos Simon’s stirring, gospel-inspired “Good News Mass,” creating a adjacent frenzy successful Walt Disney Concert Hall. The adjacent time the L.A. Phil hopped connected a autobus for the 2nd of its trailblazing appearances with Dudamel astatine the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, wherever the week earlier its performance ended with thousands of fans chanting, “L.A. Phil! L.A. Phil! L.A. Phil!”

Dudamel’s ngo each on has been to leap genre boundaries. So helium has. “Maybe these person been the champion weekends of our lives,” helium told the Outdoor Theater assemblage astatine Saturday night’s Coachella love-fest.

The apical orchestras successful Berlin, Vienna, New York, Munich and elsewhere play fashionable concerts successful parks, often awaking caller audiences to their wares. But this felt a historical reach, the L.A. Phil having go nether Dudamel an indispensable portion of L.A. civilization successful a broader sense. It volition beryllium hard to top, nevertheless palmy Dudamel becomes successful his efforts to dispersed the connection that immoderate 300 years aft Elector Karl Theodor hired 90 musicians to signifier an ensemble for his tribunal successful Mannheim, Germany, the orchestra inactive matters.

Good news, however, remains seemingly successful abbreviated proviso astatine galore struggling American orchestras, conscionable arsenic it does successful galore uncertain aspects of American life. Simon — who happens to beryllium composer-in-residence astatine the recently troubled Kennedy Center successful Washington, D.C. — noted successful a preconcert speech that his archetypal thought for a “Good News Mass” came from his consciousness during the pandemic of the indispensable request for community. The L.A. Phil told him that helium could constitute thing helium wanted and for immoderate instrumental and vocal forces helium wanted arsenic agelong arsenic helium kept the magnitude to 30 minutes.

Telling composers that they tin deliberation large inevitably means they volition deliberation adjacent bigger. “Good News Mass” incorporates a precise ample orchestra, a jazz combo, a narrator, R&B and gospel soloists, a gospel choir and a film. It lasts astir 50 minutes. It is each implicit the map.

Simon partially follows the accepted Catholic wide liturgy with caller texts by Courtney Ware Lett and Marc Bamuthi Joseph that enactment done uncertainty and oppression, yet celebrating life. Bamuthi Joseph leads the work arsenic a ferocious prophetic preacher. The soloists, alto Samoht and tenor Zebulon Ellis, stone the room. Jason White and the Samples go the corporate voices of affirmation.

Stylistically, Simon smoothly moves from charismatic symphonic penning done a wide scope of African American philharmonic styles, leaving improvisational country for the vocal soloists. But the movie by Melina Matsoukas, beautifully stark slow-motion thoroughfare scenes successful black-and-white, steals attraction to small philharmonic intent and makes pursuing the meaningful wide itself (no substance is projected) needlessly difficult.

“Good News Mass,” which seems inspired by Leonard Bernstein’s eclectic “Mass,” written for the opening of the Kennedy Center successful 1971, could, similar it, efficaciously grow its presumption theatrically and choreographically alternatively than cinematically. And the bully quality is that Simon’s wide will, indeed, beryllium performed astatine the Kennedy Center by the National Symphony, assuming determination are nary further attempts to undo programming by the center’s caller administration. The Boston Symphony and Chicago Symphony are further co-commissioners.

Dudamel, who joyfully held Simon’s divers philharmonic styles together, began the programme with Bernstein’s “Divertimento,” a postulation of short, popular-styled bagatelles, including dances and blues numbers. It whitethorn beryllium mostly dismissed arsenic trivial, but Bernstein conducted it with characterful nostalgia and Dudamel has recovered successful it vibrant caller spirit.

Soloist Randall Goosby performs Florence Price’s Second Violin Concerto with Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Phil astatine Walt Disney Concert Hall.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

He followed this with the archetypal L.A. Phil show of Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 2, with Randall Goosby arsenic the eloquent soloist. In this, her last score, written successful 1951, she moves into a much impressionistic realm successful the short, single-movement concerto. Here it felt much similar a opening than an ending.

At Coachella, everything felt similar a beginning. Dudamel led TikTok-sized bits of orchestral bonbons — “The Ride of the Valkyries,” the archetypal question of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, John Williams’ “Imperial March” and the opening of Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra” — each generating excited whoops from the crowd. So did main cellist Robert deMaine’s solo offering from the prelude to Bach Cello Suite No. 1 and subordinate concertmaster Bing Wang’s solo from the opening of the Max Richter statement of “Spring” from Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.”

Laufey joins Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Phil astatine Coachella.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Dudamel connected the Coachella stage.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Both weekends, arsenic witnessed connected the livestreams, featured Icelandic vocalist Laufey, who called herself an orchestra girl, and the spectacular Argentine hip-hop duo Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso, who entered into a virtuoso dialog with the orchestra. Maren Morris, Becky G and Zedd were connected manus the archetypal play on with LL Cool J, who closed retired the acceptable with an arresting medley. The festival’s 2nd play brought Natasha Bedingfield, Dave Grohl and Cynthia Erivo, who ended with “Purple Rain.”

It mightiness look arsenic though this were but the adjacent measurement for Dudamel, who regularly invites popular stars to articulation him and the L.A. Phil astatine Disney Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. He’s taken the L.A. Phil and YOLA to the Super Bowl. But successful astir cases, they person been much similar orchestral accompaniment.

Many a popular star, moreover, has turned to orchestral penning lately. Esa-Pekka Salonen, for instance, conducts a violin concerto by Bryce Dessner of the Nationals adjacent week with the L.A. Phil.

Coachella, connected the different hand, not lone enactment the L.A. Phil beforehand and halfway successful a popular arena but besides made the orchestra an adjacent spouse successful exhilarating euphony that discounted differences. For an hr each weekend, the L.A. Phil became what fewer others successful the arts oregon amusement stay — conveyors of authentically bully news.