Saturday, June 28, 2025
Waldbühne, Olympiapark, Glockenturmstraße 1, Berlin
The annual season-farewell in the usual outdoor abode, a one-off party rather than part of the thrice-played subscription concerts, the Berliner Philharmoniker oozing brilliance and camaraderie, Gustavo Dudamel relishing his quintessential repertoire – its exotic rhythms and colours, with much to do for the Philharmoniker’s plucky percussionists – got off to an atmospheric and playful start (Ortiz) owing much to Copland in Cuba and Mexico to which the Márquez offered a slinky contrast if a belligerent build-up of dynamics and repetition. The faster numbers of Old American Songs tended to be on the nippy side, not least ‘I bought me a cat’, which meant some gabbled enunciation from Ryan Speedo Green, and even ‘Simple Gifts’ (which features in Appalachian Spring) lacked poise, although the baritone undoubtedly has an imposing voice. The Castellanos was attractively varied, music in search of a film if doing nicely without one. Sierra’s piece, with perhaps a nod to Ginastera, got the second half off to a flying start, to which ‘Duke’ Ellington’s gentle syncopations offered expressive persuasion. The West Side Story ‘Symphonic Dances’, a fastidious compilation by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, was very well done, even with Măcelaru currently omnipresent, if without trumping him, or the BP outdoing WDR, the music’s descriptions of hope (‘Somewhere’), hostility and danger vividly choreographed (for the mind). Following such a desolate ending, the first encore was likely to be uplifting, if not necessarily the Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, however disarranged to include Latin-American elements (your reviewer not amused), and the time-honoured Berliner Luft.
“Summer, energy, passion – the Berliner Philharmoniker, Gustavo Dudamel and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green invite you to join them at the Waldbühne. In 2008, the Venezuelan conductor made his acclaimed Philharmoniker debut here with the theme Los ritmos de la noche. This is the fourth time that Gustavo Dudamel has conducted the season finale at the open-air stage. The programme includes captivating dances from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story.”