Last week, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Edward Gardner, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Lio Kuokman, each brought Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.
Both orchestras joined forces with Korea’s top pianists: Son Yeol-eum with the London Philharmonic and Sunwoo Yekwon with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, turning the week into a celebration of Korean pianistic brilliance.
This week, another musical face-off unfolds — but with a different spirit. Two conductors closely tied to the New York Philharmonic are here to thrill Korean audiences. Alan Gilbert, who served as the orchestra’s music director from 2009 to 2017, and Gustavo Dudamel, who will assume the same post in 2026, each lead ensembles deeply connected to them.
| Gustavo Dudamel (Mast Media) |
Gustavo Dudamel and LA Philharmonic
Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic are in Seoul for two monumental nights at the Seoul Arts Center. Their concerts on Tuesday and Wednesday mark not only the orchestra’s long-awaited return to Korea, but also a historic moment in Dudamel’s career. The international tour will be his final as music and artistic director of the LA Phil before taking up the new post at the New York Philharmonic.
Dudamel has led the LA Phil for 17 years, becoming its music director in 2009 at the age of 28, the youngest in the orchestra’s history. Under his baton, the ensemble has transformed into one of the world’s most forward-looking orchestras, recognized for its fearless programming, community engagement and genre-spanning collaborations.
Tuesday’s program features Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” a large-scale work that moves from themes of death and struggle to renewal, bringing together orchestra, chorus and soloists. For "Resurrection," written for a massive ensemble of more than 200 musicians, soprano Chen Reiss and mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor take the stage with the Seongnam City Chorus and Paju Civic Choir.
On Wednesday, the LA Phil presents John Adams’ “Frenzy,” alongside Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite” and “The Rite of Spring."
“If the LA Phil has a signature piece, it’s 'The Rite of Spring,” Dudamel says. “It still feels bold, modern and full of energy — just like this orchestra.”
After the Seoul stop, the LA Philharmonic continues its Asia tour with performances in Tokyo on Friday and Saturday and in Taipei from Oct. 28 to 30.
| Alan Gilbert (Vincero) |
Alan Gilbert and NDR Elbphilharmonie
For Gilbert, this marks his fourth visit to Korea — but his first with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, which returns to Seoul after 10 years. The conductor who first met the orchestra in 2001 said in a recent e-mail interview that he and the orchestra know each other "inside and out."
"I feel like I can be most myself when I conduct this orchestra, and I dare say that the musicians really feel that they can give of themselves in a very personal way as well, and that translates to the audience experience. It's something that I'm very proud of, and I love sharing that around the world," he said.
| Joshua Bell (Vincero) |
The Hamburg-based orchestra, under Gilbert’s leadership since 2019, presents a program that moves beyond crowd-pleasers. On Wednesday at Lotte Concert Hall, the concert opens with the Korean premiere of Anna Clyne’s “Restless Oceans," followed by Brahms’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77, featuring the orchestra’s 2023-24 artist-in-residence Joshua Bell, and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7, Op. 70.
"Restless Oceans," Gilbert explains, is "about women and about the empowerment and place of women in the world," the conductor said.
After the Seoul performance on Wednesday, the orchestra brings the same program to Daegu Concert House in Daegu on Thursday as part of the city's 2025 World Orchestra Festival.
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