Brahms trauma, New York the enemy, and the Bake-Off Cinematic Universe

Sharon's Weekly Head Dump

Well, my week was just trucking along, my primary source of agony being the eternal struggle of not practicing enough and falling behind (falling behind what, Sharon? I don’t know, just BEHIND) and then the bombshell landed that the New York Philharmonic has poached Gustavo Dudamel from LA.

I am, to be honest, not cut up over Dudamel leaving so much as I am affronted at the AUDACITY of New York City. I mean, look at these passages from the NYT article (bolding is mine):

When Dudamel appeared at the [New York] Philharmonic last spring, for a two-program Schumann symphony cycle, some players, hoping to win him over, showed up to rehearsals bearing gifts and handwritten notes. Inside his dressing room, a group of musicians gave him a bottle of the Brooklyn-made Widow Jane bourbon, telling him the Philharmonic would welcome him if he could find a way to spend more time in New York.

[Deborah Borda] recounted meeting him secretly in various European cities over the past year, often flying in and out within 24 hours to avoid suspicion, as she tried to secure a deal. (Seeing him in Los Angeles, she said, “just didn’t feel kosher.”)

Borda offered Dudamel two gifts while wooing him. One, given early in the search, was a program book from a Philharmonic tour of Venezuela in 1958, with a cover designed by the artist Carlos Cruz-Diez.

The other, which he received as the deal was being finalized, was a pencil that was used to compose music by an artist who will now be his predecessor: Leonard Bernstein.

SNEAKY SNEAKY SNEAKY. ([Saw Gerrera voice] “Lies! Deception!”) If you’re going to steal our music director, have some integrity and do it out in the open, and without bribery!!!!!

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I was taught to look down on Southern California and to see Los Angeles as the enemy. When I got here I was astounded that no one in LA actually cares about SF and that the enmity only goes one way. I assumed that meant LA had no enemies, but now I get it.

New York is the enemy.

🎹 sharon su 🎹 @doodlyroses

WTF NEW YORK YOU DON’T SEE US STEALING YOUR STUFF (other than like, the title of “best bagel in America” wait oh my god is this revenge for the bagel thing)

nytimes.comGustavo Dudamel, Star Maestro, to Leave L.A. for New York PhilharmonicDudamel, a charismatic 42-year-old conductor, will take up the Philharmonic’s podium in 2026, in a major coup for the orchestra.

(Fun fact: a New York Times reporter emailed me about using the above tweet in an article and I was ready to celebrate finally being acknowledged by the New York Times on a technicality, and then the article came out and I was nowhere to be found in it. I have at this point been written about in the LA Times, Washington Post, SF Chronicle, etc. etc. and the NYT remains the sole major American outlet I have yet to appear in. This is not a thing I am hugely invested in, by the way, just a funny thing I can pretend to be upset about.)

Now everyone is furiously abuzz about who will be replacing Dudamel as MD of the LA Phil, and while it makes a lot of sense for Susanna Mälkki—currently the LA Phil’s principal guest conductor—to get the post, this is my secret dream:

🎹 sharon su 🎹 @doodlyroses

Ok if we’re all stealing conductors from each other I vote that LA steal Xian Zhang from New Jersey, she’s absolutely electrifying and I love her and she deserves our gorgeous weather

I have written previously about how incredible Xian Zhang is and my glee that Alex Ross agrees with me. It is probably a long shot; this article names a whole slew of contenders and Zhang is nowhere to be found on the list. But in the spirit of conquest, I think we should steal from New York’s neighbor for not doing their part to prevent the Dudamel-poaching. Seems fair.

How to make Brahms better

Brahms’ music is the kind of thing I like in theory; it’s romantic, it’s lush, it’s got some killer themes, it is—like me—obsessed with Clara Schumann. In practice, though, his music doesn’t always do it for me. The buildups are very satisfying (Johannes loves a slow burn) but then there are often just long stretches of just, like, dense musical rumination with “this meeting could have been an email” energy.