Gustavo Dudamel, Cate Blanchett and Jeremy O. Harris update Beethoven's 'Egmont'

It began with Beethoven.

Bright yellowish T-shirts reading, successful raspberry type, “¡Bienvenido Gustavo!” marked Gustavo Dudamel’s archetypal performance arsenic euphony manager of the Los Angeles Philharmonic the archetypal Saturday day of October 2009 astatine the Hollywood Bowl. Eighteen 1000 tickets were distributed escaped for a show of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, an Angeleno “Ode to Joy” broadcast worldwide. The exultant young Venezuelan conductor’s connection was: There is nary North, South oregon Central America. We are one.

We are present successful “Gracias Gustavo” season, and times, we are regular reminded, they are a-changin’. But what remains accordant is that Dudamel begins again, successful the archetypal period of his six-month homestretch arsenic L.A. Phil euphony director, by dwelling connected the composer helium says has meant the astir to him since his earliest days arsenic a kid conductor successful Caracas. His archetypal large signaling boasted startlingly propulsive performances of Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh Symphonies, with the uproarious Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, recorded 20 years agone this month. In August, Dudamel volition extremity his L.A. Phil tenure arsenic helium began it, with Beethoven’s Ninth astatine the Bowl.

Through these 2 decades, heavy and COVID-lockdown thin, Beethoven has been Dudamel’s composer of uplift. This play helium confronts, for the archetypal time, Beethoven’s daunting mystical and mystifying “Missa Solemnis.” In pursuing weeks, helium volition brace Beethoven symphonies with 2 of the astir arresting and archetypal of the dozens of caller works helium has premiered successful Los Angeles — Gabriela Ortiz’ Glitter Revolution ballet score, “Revolución Diamantina,” and the archetypal portion of Thomas Adès “Dante” ballet.

To statesman the Beethoven period astatine Walt Disney Concert Hall, however, Dudamel turned to different Beethoven enactment that has agelong obsessed him, the seldom heard implicit incidental to Goethe’s tragedy, “Egmont,” which has the ever-relevant taxable that matters astir to Dudamel — the profound joyousness that arises from triumph implicit injustice. For this, helium had the assistance of histrion Cate Blanchett and playwright Jeremy O. Harris.

Here, too, Beethoven serves arsenic a musical, spiritual and governmental touchstone. “Egmont” comes successful the mediate of Beethoven’s career, his heroic period. The historical Egmont was a Flemish general, a leader to his radical successful the Netherlands who attempts to service the 16th period Spanish emperor, Philip II, and rife for Goethe’s romanticizing. A singular polymath, Goethe himself served arsenic an advisor to Weimar’s Grand Duke, brilliantly balancing governmental compromises with literature’s highest spiritual callings. He admired the tone of liberty, for instance, yet opposed the French Revolution and supported Napoleon, believing that ensuing populist upset would then, arsenic it turned out, necessitate autocracy.

Goethe’s Egmont indispensable larn to emotion earlier helium tin enactment to support his radical against Philip. The leader goes to his decease astatine the constituent of self-realization that lone successful sacrifice whitethorn helium ascend to and go a awesome for glory.

In the play, which begins arsenic historical epic and becomes, for Goethe, expanding idiosyncratic and interior, Egmont gains position connected the complexities of his spot successful authorities by contemplating quality and being. Among Goethe’s galore passions were technological study. He immersed himself successful the earthy satellite and befriended the pioneering German environmentalist, Alexander von Humboldt.

It could, thus, person been hardly coincidence that Dudamel opened the programme with the premiere of “Humboldt’s Nature” by Venezuelan composer Ricardo Lorenz. The five-part, 25-minute symphonic poem for a ample orchestra rife with percussion follows Humboldt’s relationship of his travel to Venezuela successful 1799.

Symphonic glitter sets the signifier of New Andalusia. Guacharo birds shriek. Latin rhythms instrumentality america to coastal regions. Sandy percussion accompanies a travel up the Orinoco River. Throughout, Lorenz’s orchestra, imaginatively colored, reflects immense nature. But the people ends with the daze of humanity, arsenic Humboldt encounters enslaved Cubans.

The 1 happening Goethe lacked was a blase receptor for euphony (and perchance sound). But Humbolt’s relationship could practically beryllium the starting spot for Beethoven’s “Egmont,” begun a decennary aft the Venezuelan encounter. In the fashionable overture, elicitation of tumult concludes, with startling exhilaration, successful the benignant of expansive Beethovenian triumph that ne'er fails to excite. The incidental music, though, offers needed theatrical context. That includes 2 songs for Egmont’s love, Klärchen, 4 entr’actes, a melodrama for Egmont arsenic helium approaches his execution and, powerfully arsenic lone Beethoven can, a conflict cry.

Goethe has ne'er mislaid relevance. Matthew Bell’s caller biography, “Goethe’: A Life successful Ideas,” has fixed Germany’s Shakespeare caller attention. One of the top plays of our time, Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia,” confronts Goethe’s “Elective Affinities” with our ain elective affinities. One of the top operas of our time, John Adams’ “Doctor Atomic,” contemplates the instauration of atomic weapons arsenic the functioning of a latter-day Faust, Goethe’s astir lasting creation.

“Egmont,” too, readily speaks to america and it has been connected Dudamel’s docket for years. While performances of the implicit play with the incidental euphony are rare, a half-hour performance version, besides uncommon but little so, proves effective. Dudamel did it with the Berlin Philharmonic successful June, a show of which tin beryllium viewed connected the orchestra’s Digital Concert Hall. The narrator is simply a young Austrian actor, Felix Kammerer, who is riveting (as helium is successful Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein”). He adds a flimsy instauration revealing Egmont’s indecisiveness, but different sticks to Goethe.

Cate Blanchett narrates Beethoven’s incidental euphony to “Egmont” with Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic astatine Walt Disney Concert Hall.

(Elizabeth Asher / Los Angeles Philharmonic)

Harris, who is the writer of “Slave Play,” has different elective affinities. He has created a new, effusively aggravated substance for Blanchett. It begins arsenic a dirge. Battalions are gathered connected the banks of Portland, Ore.; Bethlehem; Charlotte, N.C.; Tehran; Minneapolis; Brussels. The Egmont Harris references is the humanities one, not Goethe’s. The substance go a bald telephone for action.

Much of it was mislaid to the audience, since reverberant amplification gave heroic heft to Blanchett’s dependable astatine the outgo of intelligibility. But her intensity, whether seated connected the articulator of the stage, wherever she begins, oregon lasting successful the organ loft wherever she winds up astatine the end, spoke for itself.

Beethoven’s euphony improves Goethe, extracting its humanity and frailty, and Dudamel’s show probed its profound inevitability of bully triumphing implicit evil. Soprano Elena Villalón added lithe interaction to Klärchen’s songs, sung successful their archetypal German.

But Beethoven tin bash small for Harris’ and Blanchett‘s agitprop. Theirs is the necessity of the infinitesimal to enactment alternatively than indulge an Egmont who has to consciousness earlier helium tin respond. Although Blanchett was the joyless conductor successful the movie “Tár,” her funny small creation successful the organ loft astatine the infinitesimal of philharmonic triumph whitethorn person meant recovered joyousness oregon simply that the world, successful which we are nary longer one, has gone crazy.

Equally peculiar was a show of Schumann’s Piano Concerto that served arsenic modulation from “Humboldt” to “Egmont.” One of the concerto highlights of Dudamel’s euphony directorship successful L.A. is simply a performance, 8 years ago, of the concerto’s mood-shifting eloquence, for which helium and Mitsuko Uchida were successful wondrous accord.

This time, the soloist was the stellar emerging pianist Yunchan Lim, who keeps to himself, either mislaid successful dreamy reverie or, similar a jumpy teenager, successful ferocious onslaught mode. Having small choice, Dudamel fto Lim be. Like Egmont, Lim’s glory whitethorn 1 time get erstwhile helium tin explicit intent for his actions.