Dudamel and the LA Phil, Barbican Centre

There are dozens of fine United States orchestras, but only one Los Angeles Philharmonic. While many are content to wheel out the same old symphonic warhorses, the Californian ensemble is amongst the most creative and forward thinking in the whole world. And in chief conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil have found a leader equal to their talents and interests. Arguably the most famous product of Venezuela’s pioneering music education scheme El Sistema, Dudamel possesses a remarkable energy and drive that nevertheless never loses sight of the score. Their three-concert residency at the Barbican Centre in March 2016 is a case in point, melding Mahler’s late romantic opulence with a modernist classic and new American works.

The series begins on March 22^nd with a mixed line-up of New World sparkle. Alberto Ginastera (Danzas argentinas) is Argentina’s most important composer. His Piano Concerto No. 1 (1961) is atonal but attractive, with imaginative orchestration and crashing rhythms. It will be matched by Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring (1944), which soars with the promise of American life. The line-up is competed with two UK premieres from California-infused maestros, Andrew Norman and John Williams of Star Wars fame.

The second and third nights are both devoted to a single titanic work. On the 23^rd, Dudamel and his orchestra will play Oliver Messiaen’s Des canyons aux étoiles (1974), a visionary masterpiece inspired by the canyons of Utah. Vividly expressive, it will be played before new visuals by photographer Deborah O’Grady, who has spent her life depicting the sublimity of nature.

The LA Phil’s Barbican residency comes to a close with Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 (1983-6), the longest piece by a composer given to gigantism. The opening movement alone lasts over half an hour. A passionate hymn to the glories of nature, it combines orchestral and choral forces to astounding effect. With Dudamel and the LA Phil, it promises to be spectacular.