Dudamel, Gustavo

Dudamel’s father, a trombonist, led a salsa music band. Dudamel went through the extensive Venezuelan system of music education ( El Sistema ), the creator of which Jose Antonio Abreu in 2008 was awarded the Glenn Gould Prize for his outstanding contribution to the development of music. Initially, Dudamel studied violin, then also composition, and since 1995 , conducting, led first by Rodolfo Salimbeni , and then Abreu himself. In 1999 , the 18-year-old Dudamel was approved by the musical director of the peak brainchild of Sistema, the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra named after Simon Bolivar . A year later, together with the orchestra, Dudamel made a successful tour of Germany.

In 2004, Dudamel won the first Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition in Bamberg . This achievement was followed by a victory in the competition of the Conducting Academy, as a reward Dudamel received the opportunity of a week-long master class with Kurt Mazur and Christophe von Donagni ^[5] . For participating in the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Dudamel was awarded the first established award - the Beethoven Ring . At the invitation of Donanya, Dudamel conducted the Philharmonic Orchestra in 2005 , made his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Israeli Philharmonic in the same year, signed a contract with the record company Deutsche Grammophon , one of the leaders of which Bogdan Roshchich stated that Dudamel would be “the dominant figure world music scene in the next 30 years ” ^[6] . Finally, in 2005 , Dudamel at the last moment replaced the sick Neeme Järvi in a performance with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms concert - at a younger age, only two conductors led Daniel Harding and Simon Rattle in concerts of this famous cycle, and Dudamel was the second similar even in appearance ^[5] (Rattle praised the art of Dudamel and, in particular, at his invitation visited Venezuela, performing with the Dudamel Youth Orchestra of Venezuela). This concert, in spite of the fact that the criticism showed some restraint in his assessment ^[7] , responded, on the one hand, to Dudamel’s invitation to lead the Swedish orchestra, which he headed in 2007 , and on the other, to the invitation of the Venezuelan Simon Youth Orchestra Bolivar and Dudamel led him to participate in the BBC Proms, 2007 , where they played his Tenth Symphony of Shostakovich , Symphonic dances from "West Side story" by Leonard Bernstein and works of Latin American composers as noted retsen ent at the end concert "public welcomed musicians eagerness, usually reserved for rock festival" ^[8] ; summing up the cycle consisting of almost 70 concerts, the same Una-Frances Clark wrote:

Of all the concerts of the BBC Proms this season, the most talk was caused by the fiery young conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra named after Simon Bolivar, whose boundless enthusiasm and full-bloodedness, perhaps, revealed the very essence of the BBC Proms. Young musicians showed how accessible and bringing joy classical music can be, and no one, from a perfect amateur to a learned expert, could not resist the storm of inspiration raised by them ^[9] .

In November 2006 , Dudamel made his debut in La Scala, Milan with the Mozartian Don Giovanni ; among other significant events in his career 2006-2007. - a performance with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lucerne Festival, concerts with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , a concert dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI on April 16, 2007 with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and violinist Hilary Khan , attended the Pope himself and many other Catholic hierarchs ^[10] . In the same April 2007, it was announced that Dudamel had signed a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra ^{[11] [12]} ; On October 4, 2009, the first concert of Dudamel as the leader of this group took place ^[13] . Conducted the New Year concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra -2017 ^[14] .

Dudamel’s discography is not as impressive as a concert story, but he recorded with the Youth Orchestra of Venezuela Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and Beethoven ’s Fifth and Seventh Symphonies, as well as the Concerto for Bartok’s Orchestra (from the Los Angeles Philharmonic concert) were praised ^{[by whom? ]} . Entered into the Gramophone Magazine Hall of Fame ^[15] .

On May 4, 2017, he wrote an open letter to President Maduro , calling for an end to the massacres of opposition demonstrators ^[16] :

Bloodshed cannot be justified by anything. We must stop ignoring the just demands of people crushed by an unbearable crisis. [...] I urge the president and the government of our country to change their minds and listen to the voice of the people of Venezuela.

Original text

Nothing justifies bloodshed. We must stop ignoring the just cry of the people suffocated by an intolerable crisis. [...] I urgently call on the President of the Republic and the national government to rectify and listen to the voice of the Venezuelan people.

On August 18, 2017, speaking on national television, President Maduro stated that Dudamel had been tricked into criticizing the government, which, according to Maduro, had supported him for many years ^[17] .

On August 21, 2017, the Venezuelan government canceled a tour in the USA of Dudamel and the national youth orchestra ^[18] . Tours in four major US cities were planned for September of the same year. An orchestra of 180 performers prepared for a tour for three months ^[18] .

• Mozart in the jungle

• Official site (English) (Spanish)
• Gustavo the Great : CBS 60 Minutes Program, February 17, 2008 (video and transcript )