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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000082.txt from 2007/04

From: herb fawcett <herbgosia@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] 'Contagious joy' of Los Angeles orchestra's
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:04:55 -0400

Bravo Dudamel! At least Social Democracy is in support of the arts. If thei=
r
rhetoric were not so inflammatory, it might gain support in the USA left.
Do you know of Charles Sweers, a violinist of some note in Caracas? I am
unable to establish contact, and he is an old friend who is active in the
musical and academic life of Carqcas. My "google" here leads me to some
obscure university and no further.
Herb=20

On 4/11/07 5:17 AM, "HAROLD" <harold@-----.br> wrote:

>=20
> Joy about a conductor???Is this true??
>=20
> 'Contagious joy' of Los Angeles orchestra's new conductor
>=20
> http://music.guardian.co.uk/classical/story/0,,2054255,00.html
>=20
>=20
> =B7 26-year-old Venezuelan promises a delicious time
> =B7 Another coup for system that teaches slum children
>=20
> Rory Carroll in Caracas
> Wednesday April 11, 2007
> The Guardian
>=20
>=20
> Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Sinfonica de la Juventu=
d
> Venezolana Simon Bolivar during the Lucerne festival last month. Photogra=
ph:
> Urs Flueeler/Keystone/AP
>=20
>=20
> The world of classical music acclaimed a new star yesterday after the Los
> Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra named Gustavo Dudamel, a 26-year-old
> Venezuelan
> conductor who has electrified audiences, as its next music director.
> The surprise announcement confirmed Dudamel's rapid rise from anonymity j=
ust
> a
> few years ago to a wunderkind who has been courted by European and US
> orchestras in search of a fresh and passionate sound. It also marked anot=
her
> success for a pioneering programme in Venezuela that offers children from
> the
> slums a route out of poverty and crime through a classical music educatio=
n.
>=20
>=20
> "I'm ecstatic about Gustavo. We've seen a million conductors, this was
> different," one of the orchestra's violinists, Kristine Hedwall, 37, told
> the
> LA Times. "There's a joy in him that's really contagious."
> Dudamel flashed evidence of that when the announcement was made at a pres=
s
> conference. "LA is a combination of energies, and this is exciting. I fee=
l
> wonderful." To laughter, he shouted: "I love the hot dogs here."
>=20
>=20
> He will inherit the baton at the end of the 2008-09 season when Esa-Pekka
> Salonen, 48, steps down after 15 years as music director to concentrate o=
n
> composing. Under the Finn, who was also hailed as a wunderkind when he
> started,
> the orchestra has become known for its sense of adventure.
>=20
> "This a joyous day. When I started to think about exiting some time ago, =
I
> wanted it to be like this," Salonen told the press conference late on Mon=
day
> at
> the Walt Disney Hall, the Philharmonic's Frank Gehry-designed home. "I
> wanted to
> be the one who hands over the baton to somebody wonderful, and the day ha=
s
> come."
>=20
> He became convinced the Venezuelan was the right successor after his US
> debut in
> 2005 conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, follo=
wed
> by
> a return visit in January this year to conduct the orchestra at the Disne=
y
> Hall. "'This is the man,' I said to my wife," Salonen said. He will conti=
nue
> to
> conduct occasionally.
>=20
> Members of the 106-strong orchestra expressed sadness that Salonen was
> leaving
> but there was no hiding the relief and excitement at the choice of
> successor.
> "Our great maestros tend to start their work here in their mid-20s," said
> the
> orchestra's president, Deborah Borda. "When Gustavo Dudamel took the
> podium - I
> know this is mixing metaphors - we had combustion. We knew something
> remarkable
> had happened."
>=20
> A cellist, Gloria Lum, said the orchestra had been surprised by its
> connection
> with the Venezuelan. "There are many conductors who are technically perfe=
ct,
> but they are taken with themselves, with their own ego as opposed to the
> music.
> With Dudamel, there is no artifice, no ego."
>=20
> Amid the exaltations the only hint of dissonance came from commentators w=
ho
> noted the prodigy's limited experience conducting a professional orchestr=
a.
> Next year he will have a two-week residency in LA and conduct several
> concerts
> in preparation for his inaugural season in 2009-10, when he will lead 10
> weeks
> of subscription concerts and summer performances at the Hollywood Bowl. I=
t
> is a
> five-year contract.
>=20
> Dudamel, who counts Simon Rattle and Daniel Barenboim among his influence=
s,
> started playing the violin aged 10 and conducting aged 12 as part of
> Venezuela's youth orchestra system.
>=20
> The conductor Jos=E9 Antonio Abreu started "el sistema" in 1975 with 11
> children
> in a garage. It expanded until there were centres across the country
> auditioning and teaching thousands of children, most of them from slums,
> which
> are among South America's most violent.
>=20
> The success of its graduates - one became the youngest ever bass player a=
t
> the
> Berlin Philharmonic - is a source of national pride now funded by the
> government. About 20 countries have studied and adopted elements of el
> sistema,
> which fuses discipline and hard work with a sense of exuberance.
>=20
> Dudamel said he still needed to bone up on his English, which is less tha=
n
> perfect. He promised that the orchestra would have a "delicious" time wit=
h
> him.
> "We will speak again with music, that is our language."
>=20
> Career notes
>=20
> Born in 1981 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela's music capital; started playing =
the
> violin at 10. Began conducting at 12 and by 18 was appointed music direct=
or
> of
> the Sim=F3n Bol=EDvar National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, an ensemble
> consisting mainly of children and teenagers from slums.
>=20
> Created a stir in 2000 when touring Germany with the orchestra and grabbe=
d
> headlines in 2004 by winning the inaugural Bamberg Symphony Gustav Mahler
> conducting competition. In 2005 he conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra a=
t
> London's Royal Festival Hall as part of the International Conductors Acad=
emy
> and signed a contract with Deutsche Grammophon.
>=20
> His concerts in 2006 in Europe, the US and Israel were hailed as
> inspirational.
> A recording of Beethoven Symphonies 5 & 7 with the Sim=F3n Bol=EDvar Youth
> Orchestra of Venezuela was well received by critics. Returned to LA in
> January
> 2007 as a guest conductor of the city's Philharmonic Orchestra.
>=20

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