| LA Phil

<em>El Sistema</em> In Action

February 15, 2012 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Caracas

Just like when the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela came to LA for the hometown leg of The Mahler Project, the LA Phil has a healthy-sized educational component to its trip to Venezuela for the Caracas leg of The Mahler Project.

Mahler 8 – One Down, One To Go

February 6, 2012 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Los Angeles

Saturday, FEB 4 will be a day that goes down in history for the LA Phil.

It's not just that The Mahler Project was an ambitious undertaking - it was that, for sure. After all, a single conductor leading two orchestras through nine (and a half, by some estimates) symphonies in three weeks is no walk in the park.

And it's not just that the spirit of Gustav Mahler made his namesake, LA Phil Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, take him at his word when he named his Eighth Symphony the "Symphony of a Thousand." He did. After all, when the final count was in, just over 1,000 musicians crowded onto the stage at the Shrine Auditorium to produce a concert so grand in scale that it's unlikely to be replicated in the near future. Right?

Wrong. Because it WILL be replicated - in less than two weeks, from another country, on another continent. But, thanks to LA Phil LIVE, we'll all be able to see it - here in the U.S., in Canada, in Europe and Asia.

The Many Varieties of Mahler Madness

February 3, 2012 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Los Angeles

Photo courtesy of the LA Times

It's easy to be overwhelmed by Mahler Madness.

Even before we launched the Mad About Mahler campaign - in which we encourage Mahler fans from all over the world to "show us their Mahler" - people around the offices had been referring to "Mahler Madness" as if it were some sort new malady. And, in many ways, it resembled that - for some, it was all we thought about. The Mahler Project. Mahler 8 at the Shrine. The upcoming trip to Venezuela. LA Phil LIVE.

The point at which one succumbed to Mahler Madness was the point where it became difficult to separate oneself from the WORK of putting on The Mahler Project and being able to remember that the ultimate goal here was the creation of music.

Mad About Mahler!

February 2, 2012 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Los Angeles

This probably won't come as a surprise to many, but Gustavo Dudamel is mad about Mahler.

So...can you understand where Gustavo is coming from? Do you wake up with a Mahler symphony in your head? Have you written a blog post about his music or a poem celebrating the composer? Or are you, like so many others, just discovering his work but somehow aware that Mahler's music is special?

Whatever stage of Mahler madness you're at - Mahler newbie, Mahler lover or Mahler maniac - Gustavo and we here at the LA Phil would like you to do something for us.

We want you to show us your Mahler.

It's easy enough to do.

You can tweet about your experience with Mahler using the hashtag #MahlerProject.

Happy Birthday, Gustavo!

January 26, 2012 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Los Angeles

Happy Birthday, Maestro!

This Week in Mahler, Part II

January 23, 2012 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Los Angeles

Photo Courtesy of Mathew Imaging

If you thought last week at Walt Disney Concert Hall had a whole lot of Mahler, then get ready - this week will really knock you out. Gustavo and the LA Phil have progressed at a brisk but reasonable pace since launching The Mahler Project on JAN 13, but now that the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela has arrived and played not only THEIR first Mahler symphony with Gustavo but also the first of two performances of "Mahler's World" -- well, the only word we can think of to describe this week is "breakneck."

Here's what's happening in The Mahler Project this week:

Musical Bookends with Mahler 4 and Mahler 10

January 22, 2012 | Posted by Barry Gold in Los Angeles

When Gustavo Dudamel began his tenure as our Music Director, we played Mahler 1. It's already over two years later and here we have Mahler 1 again. But this time, especially after Thursday night's emotional performance, his interpretation has taken on a new glow and refinement. We've become his orchestra - with lightning-quick reflexes, sensitivity and virtuosity.

Thursday's performance of Mahler 1 was spellbinding - especially with the powerful way it ended with the Adagio of the 10th symphony - musically "bookending" Mahler's extraordinary but brief life. The viola section was especially poignant with its utterances, I felt.