Conductor Gustavo Dudamel’s program opens with Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari, which refers to a magical blue deer, sacred to the Huichol people of Mexico. In the one-movement concerto Odisea, commissioned by Dudamel for Jorge Glem, Venezuelan composer Gonzalo Grau highlights his country’s national instrument, the versatile, four-stringed cuatro. On the surface Johannes Brahms’ Second Symphony seems like a sunny summer idyll, but shadows abound.
Dudamel Conducts Brahms 2

Gustavo Dudamel (Photo: Danny Clinch for LA Phil)
Playlist
Gabriela Ortiz: Kauyumari
Gonzalo Grau: Odisea Concerto for Venezuelan Cuatro and Orchestra
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus 73