Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Hitting the ground running: Dudamel energetically leads the NY PHILHARMONIC in a busy first week of performances as music director

• By drediman
• September 21, 2026
• No Comments

In his first week in the official capacity as the New York Philharmonic’s music director, Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel generated considerable excitement as he energetically led the ensemble in a busy tour of bespoke performances from Downtown (PAC NYC), to Midtown (Radio City Music Hall), and finally to the Philharmonic’s Upper West Side home at David Geffen Hall at Lincon Center. Here are my thoughts on this auspicious start of the superstar maestro’s era as New York’s own. In short, it was a positive sign of captivating things to come.

“SOUNDS OF REMEMBRANCE”
Perelman Performant Arts Center (PAC NYC)

The day after conducting a star-studded concert at Radio Music Hall (which I sadly missed), Dudamel took a subset of his ensemble down to the Perelman Performing Arts Center located essentially at Ground Zero to perform in a one-afternoon-only concert to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Marketed by PAC NYC under the umbrella series Sounds of Remembrance (RECOMMENDED), the performance was an inspired collaboration with the Soldiers’ Chorus of The U.S. Army Field Band (later that weekend, the PAC NYC series also presented an inspired staged concert of the uplifting musical Come From Way). Together, they embarked on a succinct but moving concert that was comprised of both recognizable and accessible staples, as well as a world premiere commission. The usually vivacious maestro — who shared some thoughtful words for the occasion prior to taking up the baton — assumed an appropriately solemn demeanor as he made his way through the program. The concert included a pensive rendition of Barber’s Adagio for Strings, the world premiere of Julia Adolphe’s pretty but somewhat pedestrian We the Living (set to text by Safiya Sinclair), and concluded with a stirring performance of Leonard Bernstein’s “Make Our Garden Grow” from the musical Candide. For the latter two, the New York Philharmonic was joined by the aforementioned Soldiers’ Chorus, making for a memorable tableau for the somber commemoration.

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
David Geffen Hall

Back on home turf at Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, Dudamel conducted a concert (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) that continued to contemplate on the world-altering events from 25 years ago by bringing back On the Transmigration of Souls, John Adams’ affecting meditation on the 9/11 attacks (the work was premiered by the Philharmonic on the 1st anniversary of 9/11). A sonic hybrid of recorded soundtrack (which notably dictates the names of the lives that were lost against ambient city sounds), sensitive choral work, and mostly subdued orchestral playing — here, beautifully balanced against each other — the piece stealthily escalates in tension and power until it reaches a harrowing crescendo, before once again receding into the familiar noises of the New York streets. The program also included Zosha di Castri’s Invisible House, another world premiere, this one co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic (which Dudamel left to pursue his current gig on the East Coast). Inspired by Ukrainian folk songs — as well as the poetry of Ilya Kaminsky — the fascinating piece also somehow brings to mind relaxed Latin rhythms and the cacophonic syncopation of jazz. The bill ended with a crisp and lively account of Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony that was completely satisfying as a whole. It’s a testament to Dudamel’s multi-faceted agenda and the respect the players of the New York Philharmonic have for their maestro that the playing of these stylistically disparate compositions all registered at the same level of quality and excitement.