SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY CELEBRATES COMPLETION OF MAHLER CYCLE WITH THREE WEEK MAHLER FESTIVAL
I've already posted my impressions of the SF Symphony's new Mahler CD/SACD release of the massive Symphony No. 8 over in Rave Recs. Once again, another stellar performance and another SACD showpiece. The release completes their excellent Mahler cycle, which I've been highly recommending to anyone interested in either discovering Mahler or adding a multichannel reference recording to their collection. This is a picture from last November's recording session.



For anyone out this way, or coming out here in the next couple of weeks, the SF Symphony is celebrating the completion of the Mahler cycle with a Mahler festival over the next three weekends. The SF Symphony's stature over the past decade has been on an upward trajectory, and they play Mahler is what they do best.

http://www.sfsymphony.org/

PHENOM GUSTAVO DUDAMEL'S LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC DEBUT FEATURES MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 1 AND A NATIONAL PBS BROADCAST
For classical fans in LA (and elsewhere), just about everyone knows that Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel makes his highly anticipated debut as Music Director of the LA Phil in early October. In classical circles, the 28-year old Dudamel is the phenom of the conducting world right now.

Dudamel's first concert at Disney Hall will be the season opening gala on October 4th (there will also be a massive welcome concert at the Hollywood Bowl the night before, but that concert will feature a parade of musicians from all genres welcoming Dudamel to Los Angeles). The program will feature the latest composition from minimalist John Adams, and Mahler's Symphony No. 1. Dudamel rose to fame by winning the Mahler conducting competition at age 23, and the LA Phil snapped him up before he wowed audiences with his conducting debuts in Chicago and New York (who were also looking for new music directors at that time).

Tickets for the gala performance are long gone, but PBS will record the concert and broadcast it on October 21, with a DVD from Deutsche Grammaphone in November.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,3969125.story

In the meantime, for anyone curious about Gustavo Dudamel, here's a YouTube vid of his performance with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra (the Venezuelan orchestra that he was in charge of for several years) at the BBC Proms in 2007. Doubt that you'll see the older musicians on the LA Phil standing and dancing while playing, but you never know! (This is the encore, and the fireworks begin around the 6:00 minute mark with Bernstein's Mambo)