10 LA Philharmonic Concerts Not to Miss

On Thursday, October 5^th, the Los Angeles Philharmonic launches its 2023-2024 season. Or as many of us Angelenos think, the countdown to the sad day when Gustavo Dudamel leaves us. But there’s plenty to enjoy before that day happens and this is my list of the 10 LA Philharmonic Concerts not to miss this season. They are listed in chronological order.

An Alpine Symphony with Salonen – October 27^th – October 29^th

Any concert that offers a world premiere of a new composition by Esa-Pekka Salonen (particularly one he conducts) is definitely one to see.

Salonen’s Tiu opens the concert. It is then followed by Nico Muhly’s Shrink which is a 2019 violin concerto written for Pekka Kuusisto who performs it at these three concerts.

The program closes with Richard Strauss’ tone poem from 1915. It’s a very large work employing close to 125 musicians and runs 45-50 minutes.

Photo of Esa-Pekka Salonen by Andrew Eccles (Courtesy SF Symphony)

Dudamel Leads Khachaturian – November 4^th – November 5^th

The music of Aram Khachaturian doesn’t often get performed in concert halls. So this concert that features both his piano concerto (performed by Jean-Yves Thibaudet) and music from his ballet music for Spartacus is a welcome part of the season. 

The second half of the program includes Tower for Frank Gehry by Thomas Adés. (Much of the season is dedicated to Gehry.)

This will be the U.S. Premiere of Tower. The concert closes with Leos Janacek’s Sinfonietta.

Dudamel Leads Das Rheingold – January 18^th – January 21^st

Another program in this season’s celebration of Frank Gehry is this concert performance of the first opera in Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle. 

As with many concert performances of operas at the LA Phil, this will be more than just people standing up and singing. Gehry is the scenic designer for the concerts; Alberto Arvelo is the director and Cindy Figueroa is the costume designer.

The cast include Ryan Speedo Green as Wotan; Raehann Bryce-Davis as Fricka; Jochen Schmeckenbecher as Alberich; Simon O’Neill as Loge; Barry Banks as Mime and the always reliable and copelling Morris Robinson as Fasolt.

Last Days – February 6^th

The last days of Kurt Cobain, as loosely presented in Gus Van Sant’s 2005 film, are the focus of this opera by composer Oliver Leith and librettist Matt Copson (who co-directs and is the art director for this concert). 

Last Days received a 4-star review from Andrew Clements of The Guardian in October of 2022 upon its premiere at the Royal Opera House in London.

As with that production, Anna Morrisey is co-director here. Also cast members Agathe Rousselle, Mimi Doulton, Henry Jenkinson and Patricia Auchterlonie return to sing their roles of Blake, Delivery Driver and Housemate; Magician and Superfan, respectively.

Most excitingly, composer Thomas Adés conducts this one-night only performance.

Ravel and Adés – February 9^th – February 11^th

If you like Adés as much as I do, you will also want to attend one of these three concerts which finds the work of Maurice Ravel paired with two works by Adés.

The program opens with The Tempest Symphony which is a 22-minute piece he created based on music from his opera, The Tempest. The work had its world premiere in Dresden in June of 2022.

That is followed by Ravel’s Piano Concert for the Left Hand with Kirill Gerstein

The second half opens with the Concert for Piano and Orchestra by Ades also with Gerstein as the soloist. The concert closes with Ravel’s La valse. Best of all you get to hear Adés conduct his own music.

Mälkki Conducts Brahms – February 23^rd – February 25^th

Two of these three concerts will feature the U.S. Premiere of Fett by Enno Poppe (the “Casual Friday” concert does not include this work). Susanna Mälkki conducted the world premiere with the Helsinki Philharmonic in May of 2019. It’s a 25-minute work and is at the podium for these concerts.

Each program opens with the Academic Festival Overture by Brahms and it closes with the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Daniil Trifonov at the piano. (Reason enough to see this program if you ask me!)

Philip Glass: The Complete Etudes, 1-20 – March 19^th

Four pianists team up to perform all 20 etudes by composer Glass. They are Timo Andres, Anton Batagov, Jenny Lin and Maki Namekawa. What else do you need to know? 

John Adams’ City Noir – March 22^nd – March 24^th

John Adams will be leading the LA Phil in this concert that opens with Stravinsky’s Song of the Nightingaleand closes with Adams’ City Noir which was commissioned by the LA Phil. The 35-minute work had its world premiere with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil on October 8, 2009.

In between these two pieces is the world premiere of a new piano concerto by Timo Andres. It was composed specifically for pianist Aaron Diehl.

This is certain to be a fascinating performance.

Recitals – various dates

Okay, so this is probably cheating a little bit. But there are three recitals (even though they are all good this year) well-worth your time and money.

James McVinnie, an amazingly talented musician, has a solo recital playing the organ and piano on November 12^th. He’ll be performing works by Bach, inti Figgis-Vizueta, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Nico Muhly and Gabriella Smith.

On May 1^st Víkingur Ólafsson will perform Bach’s Goldberg Variations. His long-anticipated recording of this work is being released on Deutsche Grammophon on Friday, October 6^th.

A solo recital by Yuja Wang is something I won’t miss and neither should you. She performs on May 12^th. The program hasn’t yet been announced.

Dudamel Leads Mozart and Strauss  – May 2^nd – May 5^th

These performances (except the Casual Friday date) begin with the world premiere of a new work by Andreia Pinto Correia. The concerts all feature pianist Maria João Pires performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9, “Jeunehomme.” Pires doesn’t often perform in Los Angeles, so this is a great opportunity to see one of the world’s best.

The last composition on the program in Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote. It’s a 40-minute work inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ 17^th-century novel.

There’s plenty more to choose from throughout the season. These are my picks of the 10 LA Philharmonic concerts not to be miss during the 2023-2024 season.

Main Photo: Gustavo Dudamel (Photo ©Stephan Rabold/Courtesy Fidelio Arts)