Los Angeles Philharmonic & Gustavo Dudamel - Celebrating John Williams (2019) [Hi-Res]

The prestigious Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, and Deutsche Grammophon, the world’s leading classical music label, are set to extend their long history of making music together. They will now build on a relationship that has already produced benchmark recordings of works by Mahler and John Adams, among others, and seen orchestra and conductor play key roles in the visionary “DG Concerts” initiative, which allowed music-lovers rapid virtual access to live LA Phil concerts.

Upcoming releases on Deutsche Grammophon will include a tribute to multi-award-winning film composer John Williams and, as the LA Phil marks its centenary season, a commemorative limited-edition box set entitled LA PHIL – 100 YEARS, which will encompass many of the most significant performances given by the orchestra over the decades. As a prelude to this renewed cooperation, in November 2018 DG released the LA Phil and Dudamel’s new reading of the complete score of Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker to widespread acclaim, with Gramophone hailing the orchestra’s “fabulous” playing and The New York Times calling the album a “joyously vibrant recording”.

Dr. Clemens Trautmann, President of Deutsche Grammophon, welcomes the new association between the orchestra, its Music & Artistic Director, and the label. “We’re delighted to be resuming our collaboration with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil. The centenary is a great occasion to showcase both the ensemble’s great artistic vision and its innovative approach to programming and outreach. We share the ambition to make Gustavo and the LA Phil’s latest productions heard by the widest global audience, thereby adding to the orchestra’s already rich recorded legacy with Deutsche Grammophon.”

Set for worldwide release next month, is a double album featuring some of the best-known works of John Williams, the foremost composer in the film world today. In late January 2019, Gustavo Dudamel conducted four “Celebrating John Williams” concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall, presenting a selection of unforgettable themes from the much-loved scores for films such as Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones. Celebrating John Williams will be released on March 15 via Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company.

“What an honor to collaborate with my friend and mentor John Williams,” said Dudamel. “His compositions are iconic, his talent is legendary, and his artistic generosity is heart-warming.”

Reviewing the January 24 event, the Los Angeles Times not only called the playing “spectacular” but emphasized Dudamel’s ability to bring out a unique “sonic grandeur” in these well-known works, and to convey Williams’ “magical sense of writing music that sends a message – a message of hope and glory and wonder and joy.” All in all, what he and the LA Phil produced on the night was, according to the same review, “unlike any Williams music … heard before.”

2019 marks Gustavo Dudamel’s 10th anniversary as Music & Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Having first worked with Deutsche Grammophon in 2005, he has since led the orchestra in a series of highly acclaimed Yellow Label recordings of music by composers including Brahms – a Grammy Award-winning account of the Fourth Symphony – Bartók, Bernstein, and John Adams, whose Passion oratorio, The Gospel According to the Other Mary, was commissioned and premiered by the LA Phil. Dudamel’s career has its roots in the famous Venezuelan musical education program, El Sistema, and he has been Music Director of Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra since 1999. His rich DG catalogue also reveals his deep bond with these players, and features compelling readings of works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler, among others.

Simone Porter, violin
Robert deMaine, cello
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor