THIRD EPISODE
“Easter Sunrise Service at Hollywood Bowl”
They opened with “Air pour les trompettes” by JS Bach, arranged by Allen. Allen who? More details please. What a darling piece, those trumpet players really nailed it, and some nice licks by a French horn player on the side. Oh, and a nice little trombone lick at the end.
Dudamel gave the historical context to the concert: the LA Phil played their first concert at the site which would be the Hollywood Bowl on Easter Sunday 1921, 100 years before. Wonderful.
The next piece on the program was soprano Nadine Sierra singing Mozart’s old warhorse, *Exsultate, jubilate.* I thought her voice sounded a little thick and lugubrious at first but was relieved to her lighten up when she had to, to get through the rapid passages with the little notes. That sounded to me like her true voice, her voice sounded rich and creamy but not falsely dark.
Dudamel and Sierra took the middle movement, the slow movement, at an unusually spritely tempo. Not too fast, but a bit more spring in the step than I’m used to. She sounded fantastic in this movement. Another tempo surprise, the final movement was a smidge slower than I’ve heard it. Not too slow, but more leisurely than I’m used to.
The concert ended with the gospel duo Mary Mary singing “All Hail the Power of Jesus’s Name,” a hymn that was sung in that first concert a hundred years ago (the arrangement for this performance was by Carlos Simon). The two singers had lovely voices and sounded great together but their noodling was often not to my taste. I love me some gospel noodling, but I like how Patti La Belle does it, not how Mariah Carey does it. I’m just sayin’.
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