In today’s Orange County Register online, I review Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in their performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, Saturday at Segerstrom Concert Hall. Here’s an excerpt:
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It took a while, but it finally happened. Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic made their way to Orange County together for the first time Saturday afternoon. A sold-out crowd greeted them at Segerstrom Concert Hall, despite the summer weather and the sophisticated, even challenging program.
The main order of business was Anton Bruckner’s gargantuan and magisterial and perhaps long-winded Symphony No. 7 in E. A pair of miniatures – Anton Webern’s Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10, and Toru Takemitsu’s Requiem for Strings – served as preliminary. Not a lot of toes were tapping at this concert.
Click here to read the whole thing
P.S. There’s quite a lot of photos of the concert in the slide show when you follow the link.
classical life 
Excellent review. I was privileged to hear the LA Phil play this concert on Friday night, and I agree with your assessment of Dudamel’s restraint in the Bruckner. I was surprised at his interpretation, but pleased at its maturity. My personal favorite interpretation of this work is probably Eugen Jochum’s with the Berlin, which is fleeter by as much as 15 minutes. Still, Dudamel made a persuasive case for his view, which emphasized line and phrasing over thrills and chills. And those Wagner tubas!