Christoph von Dohnányi & Philharmonia, L.A. d00dz

There are conductors who, maybe, if the past indeed was really as awesome as they told us it was -- Opera Chic isn't necessarily a big fan of nostalgia -- would not have been that big a deal fifty or sixty years ago -- but then, men like Votto and Molinari Pradelli and so many other conductors were considered solidly second string too, back then, and today one suspects they'd be the very cream of the crop.

Christoph von Dohnányi is one such conductor: variously dismissed as "cold fish", "ice man" or as a merely correct second-string conductor, some sort of living breathing human metronome (and yes, he is not another Claudio Abbado obv -- but then who is nowadays?) to Opera Chic's ears his work consistently sounds very precise, very clean, elegantly transparent, and his confident grasp of Brahms, Strauss, Beethoven is indeed very impressive.

Now, if one's local concert hall or opera house is routinely graced by the presence of Wilhelm Furtwängler's, Otto Klemperer's and Bruno Walter's ghosts then one can safely deride CvD (who comes from a most musical family) as a lamer and a "routinier" (the same destiny that struck another conductor whom OC deeply respects, Kurt Masur).

But unless those giants of the past conduct regularly at a venue near you, well, then there isn't much room to feel dismissive about El Christoforo either.

Anyway: he's appearing tonight in Los Angeles in the debut  of the Philharmonia at Frank Gehry's cool metal box, with this program:

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 @ 8 pm
Philharmonia Orchestra
Christop von Dohnányi, conductor
Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4, “Italian”
Mahler's Symphony No. 1

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 @ 8 pm
Philharmonia Orchestra
Christop von Dohnányi, conductor
Beethoven's Egmont Overture
Schumann's Symphony No. 1, “Spring”
Beethoven's Symphony No. 5

Our words of advice to CvD: dye that hair platinum blonde, or wear a wig; and make them play louder.

***update***

Tim Mangan compares the 78-year-old maestro to Wilt Chamberlain.

No, not that way.

Comments

[Mario Lallo]

He is allways competent, much better than many, and you are right he is very good with Strauss.

[Giuseppe Wagner]

He's about to leave the Philharmonia as principal conductor (Salonen takes over) - we've (I mean London) been lucky to have him. I've never heard anyone build a Mahler climax better than him. He kept loads in reserve for the last movement of Mahler 1 and the effect when he went into the extra gear was astonishing. Far, far more than an "iceman". And what a family! His father was killed by the Nazis for trying to assassinate Hitler, his grandfather, the composer, was in the same class as Bartok... Plus he's a great Berg fan - what's not to admire?