Let me tell you something about last night. It wasn’t just a symphony at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It was a moment. A moment where jazz flirted with classical, where Nietzsche met science fiction and where an organ nicknamed after fast food made me believe in the divine and somehow, it all worked, because it’s that the power of Hollywood.
This wasn’t my first time at the symphony, and it definitely wasn’t my first time seeing Jean Yves Thibaudet tear it up on the piano. But it was my first time inside Walt Disney Concert Hall and friends, that space isn’t just a venue. It’s a sensory trip, a feat of acoustic architecture and possibly a spaceship built by someone who listens to Nina Simone. This review kicks off my new Symphony Series on Hollywoodland News because turns out, classical music still knows how to slap.
First Impressions of Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walking into Walt Disney Concert Hall feels like stepping into the future… if the future were lined with warm wood and shaped like a musical instrument. Architect Frank Gehry didn’t just design a building, he orchestrated one. The curves, the light and the way sound bounces like it’s choreographed is a reminder that where you hear music matters almost as much as what you hear.
I’ve been to many concert halls, but this one felt alive. From the dramatic ceiling sails to the gentle glow of the stage, it makes even sitting in your seat feel cinematic. It amplifies music into an entire experience. There’s no overhangs. Every seat is intimate and the joy of music is appreciated without worrying to look around some dude because he’s leaning forward in his seat because he doesn’t get how theaters works.
Gershwin’s 1928 Concerto in F:
Written in a Year the World Got Louder
Let’s start by setting this up from the view of someone with vintage style not vintage values. Concerto in F wasn’t just a musical composition. It was a response to a world that was changing fast. Gershwin wrote it in 1928, right as movies started to talk, jazz ruled the clubs and even Mickey Mouse got a soundtrack. And let’s be clear, y’all, the irony of us mentioning the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Mouse isn’t lost on us here, at Hollywoodland News.
That same year, Lights of New York dropped as the first all talking musical. Warner Bros. was cranking out films like The Terror while theaters were turning into movie palaces complete with movies that talked. It was the birth of modern sound.
in 1928, Gershwin was like, hold my French 75 (just kidding, it was during prohibition). He wrote a concerto that didn’t try to be European. It didn’t apologize for being American. It didn’t separate classical from jazz. It just existed in that beautiful, messy space in between Steamboat Willie and The Jazz Singer.
Concerto in F is bold. And the thing is, Gershwin wasn’t following the trends. He was scoring the moment. 1928 needed a soundtrack that could handle noise, invention and a little bit of chaos.
The LA Philharmonic first performed Concerto in F on September 8, 1937, just months after Gershwin’s death. That debut was bold. Gershwin was still seen by some as too Tin Pan Alley, too jazzy, too American but, wrapped up in where Hollywood lives, the LA Phil got it. They knew Gershwin wasn’t trying to sound European. He was speaking his own language.
Here’s the heartbreak. George Gershwin died in 1937 at just 38 years old while Ira Gershwin lived into the 1980’s, writing lyrics for Billy Wilder into the 1960’s. Every time I hear his work live, I walk out wondering what we lost and what he could’ve created through swing, bebop and rock and roll. We didn’t just lose a composer. We lost an entire timeline of innovation. I always feel such joy and heartbreak at the end of a Gershwin concert.
(And just to bring it full circle, while Gershwin was leaving us in 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was premiering, kicking off Disney’s legacy as the king of animated sound. So yeah, sitting inside a concert hall with Walt’s name on it while listening to Gershwin’s 1928 masterpiece is not lost on me either. The ghosts were busy last night).
Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Swagger of Gershwin
Let’s give this man his flowers. Jean-Yves Thibaudet isn’t just a world-class pianist. He’s a vibe. He stepped on stage in jeans, a t-shirt, and glittering sneakers like he was ready to headline Coachella and teach a masterclass. And it was a smart choice. Because piano is a full-body sport, and he used every part of his hands, back and yes, those dazzling shoes. Obviously way more sensible than the stilettos I was wearing, let’s be real.
He didn’t just play Gershwin’s Concerto in F, he embodied it. His performance was electric, textured, and filled with so much character you could almost hear New York honking back at you. It felt like city sidewalks in winter and speakeasies behind velvet ropes. The quiet moments were intimate and cautious, like a love letter you don’t know how to end except straight up smoky with Prohibition era jazz club swagger.
This was a reminder that Gershwin belongs to all of us. His work is theatrical, defiant, and deeply American in the best and most complicated ways. And Thibaudet brought every ounce of that to the stage.
Strauss, the Organ, and Cinematic Power
Now let’s talk Strauss. Because damn.
Hearing Also sprach Zarathustra live for the first time is one of those spine-tingling moments that makes you sit up a little straighter.
Yes, we all know those opening notes from 2001: A Space Odysseym Kubrick’s red-jumpsuited space freakout locked this piece into pop culture forever. Hearing it in person hits different (and I don’t mean just a gorilla beating on bones).
The LA Phil gave it everything at the Walt Disney Concert Hall last night. The drama. The precision. The actual gravity of the piece. But the real showstopper was that custom built pipe organ at the back of the hall. Apparently people affectionately call it the “french fry” and listen, it absolutely deserves that nickname because it does kinda look like a golden basket of crispy fries but when it kicks in during Strauss it’s not fast food. This is fine dining, like truffle fries.
We want to make sure we’re calling out the massive applause to the percussionists. They crushed it and the audience knew it too. That extra burst of clapping at the end was gratitude. Because if you’re gonna have an existential symphonic meltdown, you need the timpani section to go all in.
go see the la phil perform at the walt disney concert hall
Okay, so if you’ve never been to a symphony or you haven’t been in a while. Maybe you’ve been telling yourself it’s not “your thing” because you’re a Billie Eilish fan but this is your moment. Both things can exist and empower in the same space. Plus, you still have time to catch this concert. Gershwin and Strauss are playing tonight and again for a Sunday matinee. Trust me, you’ll walk out still buzzing from those Sunday Brunch mimosas but in a different and better way.
Grab your tickets here
And this is just the beginning. Hollywoodland News is officially launching our Symphony Series, and I’ll be back with more reviews from LA’s best classical performances. Some might make you cry and some might surprise you. They always involve us being over the top in style, a hot take on history, celebrate diversity and, of course, our feeble attempts at funny anecdotes that makes you want to come back for me. So you’ve been warned.
Want more Gershwin? I wrote about his legacy, genius and unfinished future in this article here.
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