Gustavo Dudamel’s Long Goodbye to L.A., and Long Hello to New York

At Radio City Music Hall the audience cheered when Bernadette Peters joined Gustavo Dudamel for a surprise encore; two weeks later he stood at Walt Disney Concert Hall with Cate Blanchett presenting Beethoven for "Egmont" as he prepares to leave the Los Angeles Philharmonic and take the music and artistic director post at the New York Philharmonic in September.

"I am in two waters," he said as he manages an extended cross-country transition. After 17 years as the orchestra’s music and artistic director — a tenure that began in 2009 — Dudamel has filled his remaining Los Angeles schedule with tributes: programs honoring Judy Baca’s Great Wall of Los Angeles and a three-night presentation of Wagner’s "Die Walküre" with scenic design by Frank Gehry.

His last Disney Hall performances are in June and his tenure ends officially in August at the Hollywood Bowl, where he will conduct Beethoven’s Ninth, the same work with which he began the job. "I need this new chapter for me," he said.

United States, Los Angeles; New York

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