The Orfeó Català reaches the summit in Los Angeles with Gustavo Dudamel
The first of the three concerts of the 'Missa solemnis' ends with the audience on their feet applauding the artists
Los AngelesLos Angeles. Grand Avenue flanked by the characteristic palm trees of the Pacific. In the background, the peaks of the Saint Gabriel Mountains, still dusty in places. This morning, Spanish time, the afterglow of the Orfeó Català's explosive US debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel has triumphed over unusually cold days in the Californian metropolis.
The entire auditorium, some 2,000 people, rose to their feet to applaud the artists of the Orfeó and the Chamber Choir of the Palau de la Música in the first of three concerts of this demanding program. Solemn Mass by Beethoven. It is also the first time Dudamel has conducted it. "The most beautiful thing about all this is that we have a very beautiful community identity, and that another community, the Catalan one, so generous, comes all the way here to Los Angeles and embraces it," said Dudamel after the concert, where he was received like a true star.
"It's best not to talk about politics, but in the score, Beethoven included a prayer for inner and outer peace, and we have enormous power in what we do, a transformative power: in such a divided world, we have the power to find each other through the sublime, through beauty, through what is a message of the highest expression of humanity, and of love," added Dudamel, who hinted that there will be more Solemn Masses in the coming years and a Eighth Symphony Mahler, although he has not revealed whether he will invite the Orfeó Català and the Cor de Cambra in his next stage as musical and artistic director of the New York Philharmonic.
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Dudamel has chosen to maintain the unfinished nature of the ending of the Solemn MassAnd after the final bars, the hall fell into absolute silence. "Dudamel gave a very daring, very risky performance. In fact, he improvised many new things compared to the rehearsals," explained an emotional Xavier Puig, the director of the Cor de Cambra and the Orfeó Català. "Today he was especially exuberant, especially revolutionary, and his heart responded beautifully. What I'm most pleased about is the confidence he demonstrated in his heart and in pushing it to its limits, which is what Beethoven always does, pushing us all to our limits. And he did it with great courage," Puig explained.
"When the moment of reflection at the end was over, it was like a transition, very peaceful. When I went backstage, Dudamel was leaning against a wall and kept repeating, 'What peace, please, what peace,'" said Puig, who had rehearsed a more celebratory version. "Deep down, that's how it is, the ending is like that, and dressing it up in any other way, in a festive way, perhaps doesn't make sense because it's really meant to leave us with that final surprise. And I think the audience understood that, respecting that moment of silence," acknowledged Puig, who lost a dinner bet on whether Dudamel would conduct from memory, as the Venezuelan did.
Institutional Presence
The Orfeó Català concerts in Los Angeles were attended by the Catalan Minister of Culture, Sònia Hernández Almodóvar; the Spanish Government Delegate to the United States and Canada, David Andrés Viñas; and the Director of Tourism of Catalonia, Arantxa Calvera. Also present were the Spanish Consul General in Los Angeles, Gerardo Fueyo; Mariona Carulla, who served as president of the Orfeó Català for thirteen years before passing the torch to Joaquim Uriach; and Maria Lladó, the Director of the Creative Department at the Institut Ramon Llull. The Catalan delegation to Los Angeles comprises approximately 200 people, including some 123 singers, the staff of the Palau de la Música Catalana, around twenty members of the institution, and sponsors. "These days are undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary chapters in the history of the Orfeó Català and the Chamber Choir of the Palau de la Música, and one of the most extraordinary chapters in the history of Catalan culture in the world," said the Minister of Culture.
The occasion is even more special because this is Dudamel's last season leading the LA Phil, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, after seventeen years. "Thank you, Gustavo," proclaims a giant banner hanging on the auditorium's facade. "You truly are omnipotent," Joaquim Uriach told him in the speeches following the concert.
The day had begun early, with 96 singers from the Orfeó Català and the 27 singers from the Cor de Cambra braving the cold at nine in the morning to take a group photo in front of the auditorium, wearing the t-shirts they had made for the occasion. The slogan printed on them is "And love GustavoHowever, instead of a heart, there's the logo of the Orfeó Català-Palau de la Música. The singers were ecstatic, but three days after arriving some were still feeling the effects. jet lagDespite being very well prepared, they had little time to rehearse, and to make matters worse, Dudamel has been suffering from severe sinusitis. Furthermore, they had to replace one of the soloists at the last minute, with baritone Rod Gilfry taking Nicholas Brownlee's place.
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The values of European culture
"The Solemn Mass "It's an exaggerated, excessive work," warned Joan Oller, the general director of the Palau de la Música, before the concert. During a taxi ride, Oller told Dudamel they'd like to go to Los Angeles. And when some singers learned that Oller had accepted Dudamel's enthusiastic proposal, they went to... Solemn Mass It was too difficult. "For us, Dudamel's choice of the Orfeó Català and the Cor de Cambra, and his insistence that they accompany him on this adventure, is the culmination of a process of quality improvement, international development, and also an improvement in self-esteem," said Oller. "In Los Angeles itself there is a great symphonic heart, the Los Angeles Master Choral, but I am convinced that Dudamel's Latin character, that emotional character, led him to seek a European heart to interpret European music, one that embodies the European values he so highly values, such as fraternity, harmony, happiness, tolerance, and superior kindness," explained Puig.
The Chamber Choir first encountered Walt Disney Concert Hall when they collaborated with Dudamel in 2024 on another Beethoven work. FidelioThis time, to prepare for the trip to Los Angeles, both the Cor de Cambra and the Orfeó Català gave three concerts of the Solemn Mass in Catalonia in November, after a special preparation process and three months of rehearsals. And after the concerts, Dudamel traveled to Barcelona for another rehearsal. "We sang the entire Mass, and there's a very special moment, the one whereTe incarnatus esteThat day was truly magical. Dudamel has that innocence, that almost childlike ability, and at that moment he expressed his excitement at finally being able to do this Solemn Mass"It was a very inspiring rehearsal. It was almost more so than the ones here, because here he also has to keep an eye on the orchestra and the soloists, and that day we had him all to ourselves," Puig recalled.