Los Angeles Philharmonic's New Leader Dudamel Debuts

A new era in American orchestral history dawned Thursday with the debut of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's new music director, the 28-year old Venezuelan-born Gustavo Dudamel.

Dudamel's relative youth and energy is expected to breathe new life into one of the nation's most important symphony orchestras and perhaps attract a new, younger audience for classical music.

His resume appears up to the challenge. He began conducting when he was 11 and became music director of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in Venezuela when he was 18. He's been a guest conductor for orchestras around the world for the past five years.

NPR's Ina Jaffe reported on Dudamel on Morning Edition. An excerpt:

Before a rehearsal at the (Hollywood) bowl last Friday, Mark Swed, the classical music critic for the Los Angeles Times, said that despite Dudamel's youth, the Los Angeles Philharmonic was not really taking a risk by putting him in charge.

 

SWED: Having begun conducting as early as he did and having had an orchestra with which to work, this has never happened before. Most conductors take up conducting in their late teens or twenties or even later and by that point they don't have orchestras with which they can actually practice. So the baton in his hand is utterly natural.

The musicians in the Philharmonic seem to think Dudamel is Mr. Right. Christopher Still plays the trumpet.

STILL: After 30 seconds on the podium, it seemed as though he'd been conducting us for years. It feels as though it's more of a collaboration. At the end of the concert, he will actually turn around, step off the podium, put his arms around the musicians and bow with us. I have never seen a conductor do that before.

Swed, the Los Angeles Times music critic, gave Dudamel's debut a solid grade but suggested the LAP's new music director would refine his approach over time. Of Dudamel's interpretation of the symphonic work "City Noir" by contemporary composer John Adams, Swed wrote:

Dudamel led everything with confidence and urgency. I can't imagine another orchestra that could sell such a piece so effectively on the first performance. But for Dudamel, who was born in 1981, this score evokes a time as distant as Brahms' is for some of our most senior conductors. I look forward to his growing into the work (he will repeat it in November with the orchestra) and to other conductors who might give it a little more breathing space.

The other work on the program, Mahler's First Symphony, is a young man's symphony. The composer began it at 24. Dudamel has conducted it often. He has found his way inside every note, and takes a listener with him. Sometimes he goes too far, which is a young man's art as well.

At this point in his development, Dudamel's conducting is essentially gestural. He can shape a musical phrase and put energy into it so it seems to have a life of its own. He began Mahler's symphony in a hush of irresistible shimmer. The piping up of a clarinet or flute felt as though all nature were about to wake up. The second movement had the weight of a herd of elephants dancing in perfect step. The symphony ended in a blaze of glory. There was no more need to argue with exaggerated details than to argue with delicious cake. This is temptation best indulged.

The pressure was great for the orchestra, and that may explain why the performance felt nervous. Maybe an early horn mishap slightly jinxed the brass. Or maybe Dudamel was simply asking for too much too often. My guess is that the symphony will settle down magnificently as the Mahler is repeated throughout the weekend on a program with a new work by Korean composer Unsuk Chin, replacing the Adams.