True class: South America’s lightning conductor . . . what I experienced was sensational. His name is Gustavo Dudamel . . . he produced enough electricity to light up Birmingham . . . a young man with boundless talent, deeply in love, and the world at his feet.”

The Times; (London), February 2007

Here’s a change of pace for Sans Souci of the rock & roll hearted.  What most people may not know about me is that I live in a household with thousands of classical music CD’s, and that my husband, son, and I are actual card-carrying members of the Gustav Mahler Society.  We think that Mahler was one of the most incredible composers of the modern age.  Perhaps I’ll go more deeply into Mahler’s life another time because that is secondary to this wonderful composer at the moment.  But suffice it to say that he lived from  1860-1911, was born German-Jewish in Bohemia (then in the Austrian Empire.)  At the age of 39 he converted to Catholicism in order to take a post as the director of the Vienna Opera (such royal posts could not be held by Jews.)

Throughout his career, he “sneaked” motifs of Jewish melodies into his pieces, something I feel was a grand way to outsmart and thumb one’s nose at regulations.

But getting back to Dudamel:

One of today’s uniquely gifted conductors, Gustavo Dudamel continues to thrill international audiences and bring the highest level of musicianship to orchestras worldwide. His remarkable ability to communicate and become one with the orchestra takes musicians and listeners alike on a memorable journey. He is currently Principal Conductor of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, has recently been appointed the Music Director of Los Angeles Philharmonic, effective 2009-10, and enters his ninth year as Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela.

Gustavo Dudamel’s 2007-08 season officially opens with his first concert as Music Director of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. In September 2007, he returns to the Lucerne Festival for his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic with piano soloist Daniel Barenboim, and later in the season debuts with the New York Philharmonic, the Berliner Philharmoniker, and Berlin Staatskapelle. In August 2007, Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela embark on a European tour with performances at the Edinburgh Festival and the BBC Proms in the UK, and five German venues, including Schleswig Holstein Festival, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Dresden Semperoper, Bonn Beethovenfest, and Frankfurt Alte Oper, followed by a US tour in October, with performances in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and in New York’s Carnegie Hall. Gustavo Dudamel returns to work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and conducts the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Dudamel also debuts this season with the San Francisco Symphony and returns to the Philharmonia Orchestra in London in June 2008. Other highlights include a performance at Berlin Staatsoper with La Bohème and a return to La Scala, also with La Bohème, along with concerts at Madrid’s Orquestra Nacional de España, Filarmonica della Scala and Orquestra Sinfonica dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Italy.

In the 2006-07 season, Gustavo Dudamel made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, among others. The season also marked his debut at the Lucerne Festival Easter, where his performances with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela brought ovations “not seen before” at the KKL, the festival’s concert hall. Additional engagements included performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bamberger Symphoniker, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, and Gothenburg Symphony.

Gustavo Dudamel is an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist. His debut recording, Beethoven 5&7 with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra was released worldwide in September 2006, and he has received the 2007 Echo Award (Germany) for “New Artist of the Year.” His second recording with the Orchestra, Mahler 5, was released in May 2007.

Gustavo does Gustav

Gustav Mahler

News of Gustavo Dudamel’s talent spread worldwide after his triumph at the inaugural Bamberger Symphoniker Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in May 2004. Born in 1981 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, he studied violin at the Jacinto Lara Conservatory with José Luis Jiménez and later, with José Francisco del Castillo, at the Latin American Academy of Violin. In 1996, he began his conducting studies with Rodolfo Saglimbeni and during the same year was named Music Director of the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra. In 1999, along with assuming the Music Director position of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, he began conducting studies with José Antonio Abreu, the Orchestra’s founder. In May 2007, Dudamel was awarded the Premio de la Latinidad by the Union Latina, an honor, given for outstanding contributions to Latin cultural life, which is presented by the 37 Latin American and African member states of the Union Latina organization.

You must hear what this orchestra of youngsters has produced, under their 27 year old conductor.

Gustav Mahler
Symphonie no. 5
Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra
Gustavo Dudamel conducting
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reply asolotraveler wrote on Mar 22, ’08 your imeem SEEMS TO BE JUMPING ON ME….respect your choice but my Germani background forces me to flock to herr beethoven before herr mahler… nonetheless, i respect his OBVIOUS talents

reply starfishred wrote on Mar 22, ’08 I don’t like funeral music and his is alays so sad well not always-nice presentation-

reply danceinsilence wrote on Mar 22, ’08 His energy presents itself in his interview and somehow I was expecting energy and power, a lot of staccato but it wasn’t there, but all in all overall this was a good listen, and yes the orchestra of youth in the very long run is brilliant … personally for me, Chopin and Tsychovsky and Rochmoninoff are a portion of my tastes when I listen to classics

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Mar 22, ’08 Just remember….these are KIDS playing and are conducted by a YOUNG man. That’s what’s so brilliant. But I appreciate the comments!

reply danceinsilence wrote on Mar 22, ’08 Well heck, and hear I thought I was saying i agreed with you … was just taken aback by the depth of the music 8=)

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Mar 22, ’08 danceinsilence said Well heck, and hear I thought I was saying i agreed with you … was just taken aback by the depth of the music 8=) Bill, I know you were agreeing–Mahler is SO deep you can drown, been listening to lectures about him, he is truly remarkable.Just awesome how such young people can “do” Mahler. How such a young conductor can get that from them–and himself. I believe he was featured on “60 Minutes” recently.

reply danceinsilence wrote on Mar 22, ’08 I think I’ll have to investigate him more, so thanks for bringing him here to listen to

reply butlerdidit2 wrote on Mar 22, ’08 I really enjoyed these selections..Thank you!

reply annedigitalis wrote on Mar 22, ’08 Having Imeem probs again, that player just doesn’t like me, lol What I could hear sounded great, and that fact that these are children playing it is truly amazing!

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Mar 22, ’08 annedigitalis said Having Imeem probs again, that player just doesn’t like me, lol What I could hear sounded great, and that fact that these are children playing it is truly amazing! Imeem was totally inaccessible last night. What’s with them? Wrote to support.

reply sweetpotatoqueen wrote on Mar 22, ’08 Conductor Dudamel is just precious …so exurberant! LOVE Mahler!

reply gypsy4you wrote on Mar 22, ’08 I saw this wonderful Conductor on a segament of 60 min. I watched and heard his words because of the closed captioning. Fortunately I am fairly able to hear the music played loudly on my home speakers. I hope to buy some of Dudamels CD’s before long. Thank you for sharing both as Mahler is one favorite also.