For anyone wary of modern music’s terrain, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s season opening concert proved that composer Ellen Reid and Music Director Gustavo Dudamel are welcoming guides into that landscape.
In an exuberant launch to his final season with the orchestra, Dudamel received thunderous applause and a standing ovation before a note was even played. The moment felt charged with affection, anticipation, and a promise to adventure through sound, which Dudamel delivered.
The world premiere of Reid’s Earth Between Oceans opened the evening at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Sept. 25 with what seemed like an act of benediction. In a primal gesture, piano and percussion cleared the space for something elemental to emerge. The music then unfolded with inexorable pacing. Sometimes glacial in its heartbeat, other times igniting in obsessions of radiant energy, the music painted tectonic landscapes of sound.
Indeed, the strength of Reid’s compositional voice lies in her ability to create worlds in her music. Showing her range, the composer also gave us diaphanous moments that felt suspended and weightless. Melodies soared with hopeful and cinematic clarity, and her use of the choir in these moments was mesmerizing. Densely clustered textures that flirted on the edge of noise would dissolve into luminous new harmonies and orchestral color. Earth Between Oceans felt both timeless and forward-reaching — that Reid could simultaneously evoke the ancient and modern was remarkable.
The final “Water” movement washed over the hall like a giant tidal wave. It felt less like a collapse into chaos than the inevitable culmination of what the piece had set in motion from its first notes. The audience’s long, enthusiastic standing ovation made it clear that Reid’s piece was nothing short of transcendent.
Next, Dudamel took the podium for Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony). Not many ensembles dare to program the work, as the logistical demands are enormous. But last night, the ambition of the piece became manifest as the LA Phil and Dudamel brought it into vivid focus.
The conductor’s pacing was measured yet bold, and he let climaxes breathe. This is the type of work you must hear live to feel the thunder machines, wind effects, offstage horns echoing across valleys, and the sheer force of an expanded orchestra. The balance was deft and supple — even with so many forces marshalled, clear lines emerged amid sonic grandeur. Woodwind solos glowed, and the world-renowned brass section brought a preternatural power and precision.
This season opener felt like a statement about legacy: although Dudamel is moving to New York, LA’s love for him was palpable. Under his tenure, the LA Phil has illuminated new composers, deepened community ties (notably through the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and partnering ensembles), and expanded the orchestra’s global stature. His final season, christened “Gracias Gustavo,” frames this evening as a tribute to those ambitions.
In an hour and a half, we traveled from elemental origin to mountain summit and back, guided by two distinct compositional voices. If Reid is your introduction to contemporary orchestral sound, let this premiere of Earth Between Oceans be the proof: modern music doesn’t alienate. It invites us to wonder. And it isn’t just for insiders; it’s for anyone willing to listen.
