Los Angeles is a city that has almost everything. One of the most notable flaws is an opera house. Ironically, the dream of owning one gave the city one of its most iconic landmarks. The Hollywood Bowl celebrates a century of hosting music protected by California’s benevolent climate this year following the delay enforced by the pandemic. Its construction ended in 1921 with the idea that a city still under construction would host high culture events like those in the eastern United States. A hundred years later, pop culture has washed away memories of those origins to turn the Bowl into the iconic location where The Beatles made history with a 30-minute concert, Janis Joplin gave an illuminated performance in 1969, in which a major disaster was averted was a performance by Jimi Hendrix and where Carlos Santana confided to his group that he had sensed the presence of Miles Davis long after his historic 1981 concert.
The newspapers of the time described the production of Julius Caesar in May 1916 as “epic”. Hollywood as the backdrop. The soldiers were commanded by actors Douglas Fairbanks, William Farnum and Tyrone Power. “500 dancers will line up behind Caesar, and elephants, camels and other animals are expected to be used in the procession. Along the hills battles take place between armies numbering in the thousands. The riot scene will employ 1,500 people,” the Los Angeles Times said at the time.
Angelenos talked about this setup for years. Perhaps the most important thing he did was invite a group of local music lovers who were thinking about creating a website to share their hobby as a community to think big. Standing out in the group was Artie Mason Carter, a music teacher originally from Missouri who had spent three years in Europe studying piano. Upon her return to America, Mason became an early promoter of culture in a city that grew from 11,000 in 1880 to more than a million in 1920. Her dream is that there would be a place where you could listen to quality music for 25 cents on the dollar. . . This became a reality in March 1921 on a vacant lot and took the form of a seashell designed by Lloyd Wright (son of Frank Lloyd Wright).
Its history also contains many milestones that reflected many of society’s trends. A woman, Ethel Leginska, conducted an all-male orchestra for the first time in 1925. William Grant Smith became the first black conductor to conduct in 1936.
A few disasters have also been about to happen. One thing that stands out in Derek Traub’s book Hollywood Bowl: The First 100 Years happened at a chaotic Jimi Hendrix concert in 1967. When the guitarist started playing Purple Haze, the audience went berserk and ran to the front of the building. where there were some fountains near the orchestra pit. Bruce Geary, drummer for The Knack, one of the witnesses to this performance, says the stampede of 2,000 people caused an avalanche that was about to throw a microphone into the water, electrocuting hundreds. More rioting broke out a year later when a local band at the height of their fame made their debut at the venue. The group? The doors.
Guitarist Jimi Hendrix rehearses before one of his concerts at the Hollywood Bowl in 1968.
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Mason Carter’s name can still be heard a century later, when the building is owned by Los Angeles County. It comes up in almost every conversation with Chad Smit, CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Also with Gustavo Dudamel, the artistic director who has become the de facto face of the orchestra and the Hollywood Bowl, which is dependent on the Philharmoniker. In a recent interview with public radio, the Venezuelan director said it was the best outdoor venue in the world. “There’s no place like the Bowl. Nothing compares to the feeling of performing there on a summer night when our sound seems to pour out of the hills to the thousands of music lovers in front of us,” said the Venezuelan.
Dudamel conducted at the Bowl in September 2005 as a guest of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Four years later, he returned for good with the baton that has made him one of the most well-known Latinos in the city. Their return is now common as the musicians use the large building as a summer venue. The site can accommodate 18,000 people. Many participants hold picnics in the stands, which has become an urban rite on summer afternoons.
A few weeks ago, Dudamel began celebrating the institution’s 100th anniversary there. It was a presentation that showcased the eclectic nature of Bowl programming, which is capable of attracting 1.5 million viewers annually. That night, pop star Gwen Stefani collaborated with Dudamel and the Philharmonic; Branford Marsalis and John Williams performed; and bands from two competing universities, Southern California (USC) and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), collaborated for the first time. It was actually the celebration of the year 101 but was adjusted because the pandemic prevented it from being held in 2021.
In 1982, composer John Williams salutes ET, the alien brought to screen by Steven Spielberg. Williams returned to the Hollywood Bowl stage in 2022.Hollywood Bowl
All summer, The Bowl has been preparing an ambitious program after the coronavirus forced the cancellation of the first season for the first time in 98 years. Featured events include concerts by Ricky Martin, soft pop duo Loggins & Messina, John Fogerty, Diana Ross, Grace Jones, Duran Duran, CHVRCHES, Flying Lotus Sheryl Crow, UB40. A Broadway musical, Kinky Boots, written by Cindy Lauper and Harvey Fierstein, will also be performed, and ’90s rap stars Wu Tang Clan and Nas will join forces.
Dudamel will conduct the orchestra in Yuval Sharon’s montage of Act III of Wagner’s Die Walküren. There will also be performances by Chinese star Lang Lang, Joshua Bell, Seong-Jin Cho, as well as dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet, an institution recently taken over by the Maestro from Barquisimeto and El Sistema’s most outstanding student. . A rule that has stuck since the days of Mason Carter is that there are affordable tickets available in a city where all prices are through the roof. Classical concert-goers can purchase $1 tickets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Celebrations next July 4th, the anniversary of Independence, will be in the hands of comedians Steve Martin and Martin Short, enjoying renewed fame, as will the Hollywood Bowl.