Young Venezuelan conductor takes classical world by storm
Star Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, widely acclaimed as an astonishingly-gifted musician, has just completed his first tour of the United States, sealing the young maestro`s status as a major player in the world of classical music.
At just 26 years old, Dudamel has been described as an inspiring prodigy and the most exciting thing in classical music.
Now, with his first US tour at the helm of the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra and his Carnegie Hall debut under his belt, the buzz surrounding the latest darling of the classical music world looks set to grow louder.
Dudamel, who is due to take over the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009, wrapped up an enormously well-received US tour on Monday with a sell-out performance at New York`s Carnegie Hall.
The Venezuelan wunderkind shared the podium with Simon Rattle, musical director of the Berlin Philharmonic, who has reportedly described Dudamel as "the most astonishingly gifted conductor I have ever come across".
The New York concerts followed performances in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston, where he received glowing reviews.
The Los Angeles Times reported "Dudamelmania" and compared him to a rock star, saying he was "absolutely revelatory" while the San Francisco Chronicle said the star conductor "unleashed an extraordinary musical fireball".
One Los Angeles hot dog palace was even reported to have named a "Dudamel Dog" after him.
The New York Times, which earlier this year described Dudamel as "one of the hottest -- and youngest -- conducting properties around" said his Carnegie Hall debut had proved the young maestro`s status as "a major player".
He returns to New York at the end of the month for a series of concerts conducting the New York Philharmonic.
The Boston Globe, meanwhile enthused that "Dudamel and the orchestra are now officially the most exciting thing in classical music".
"Over the last year or so, the excitement surrounding the frizzy-haired Dudamel has blossomed into all-out frenzy... Rarely has one musician`s potential seemed so limitless".
Among those present at a rehearsal for the New York concerts on Saturday were King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden as well as Alexander Bernstein, the son of Leonard Bernstein, composer of "West Side Story".
"What you have demonstrated is that the power of music can change society," Bernstein told the orchestra, who were rehearsing works by Berlioz, Chopin and Beethoven for a concert on Sunday.
The Dudamel phenomenon captivated British audiences when he performed in London in August and the young conductor has already made two recordings with Deutsche Grammophon while tours of Europe and Asia are also on the cards.
Behind Dudamel is "The System" -- a musical education program conceived by Venezuelan conductor and composer Jose Antonio Abreu. The project involves teaching children, many of them from the slums of Caracas, music at the highest level.
The program, born in the 1970s, now includes 250,000 students. Dudamel himself rose up through the system, while the best students -- all of them aged 26 or younger -- earn a place in the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Abreu, 68, did not try to hide how pleased he was with the US tour.
"The tour has made a big impact in the United States. The orchestra`s been invited to return, they played for mayors and politicians and a lot of young people. In many ways it was more like a rock band on tour," he said.
"Dudamel is like the synthesis of the rest of the orchestra, he is the flame. When they are together, it creates a spark." Abreu says his dream is to hear the orchestra play Mahler`s eighth symphony, perhaps next year.
Also among the audience in New York was Oscar Dudamel, Gustavo`s father, who said he realized at an early stage that his son had a special talent.
"I was most impressed when he was just seven years old and he gave a violin concerto in the town of Barquisimeto even though he was sick and had a fever. We thought he would not be able to play but he went and played.
"That`s when I first saw how driven he is," he told AFP.
When he was 12 "he picked up a baton for the first time. The director of the youth orchestra he was playing in had not yet arrived.
"He picked up the baton and started to conduct kids no older than he was. Then the conductor, Luis Gimenez, arrived and let him carry on.
"From that moment onwards, his life changed," he explained.
However, fame seems not to have gone to Dudamel`s head. "He has not changed. He`s very humble and we`re still buddies," said Ollantay Velasquez, a violinist who has known Dudamel for 10 years.
"He still calls us to go out partying and dancing."
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