The Well-Tempered Ear
Superstar maestro Gustavo Dudamel to leave LA for the New York Philharmonic
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By Jacob Stockinger
It will probably be the biggest music news story of the year, perhaps even the decade.
Gustavo Dudamel (below), the Venezuelan-born maestro of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will become the music director of the New York Philharmonic starting in 2026.
The news was announced late yesterday afternoon on both coasts. The New York Philharmonic post is probably the most prestigious music post in the United States, a podium once occupied by Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta and Kurt Masur.
In what one imagines is a very, very expensive coup — the financial terms were not disclosed — the New York Philharmonic recruited the 42-year-old superstar maestro who is known for giving passionate and fiery performances and for innovating music education programs, both of which have brought in bigger and younger audiences.
He also built a reputation for championing new music, Latin music and musicians of color. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Dudamel conducting Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 2, a Latin American piece he made famous and which is now often used by other orchestras on full programs or as an encore. In the video, he is conducting the Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra, the senior orchestra of “El Sistema” and the post that Dudamel held before heading to Los Angeles.)
Dudamel has guest conducted the New York Philharmonic more than two dozen times. The musicians there have greeted him warmly and enviously, especially since their CEO Deborah Borda originally signed Dudamel to the Los Angeles post in 2009 when he was 26.
Born into a musical family, Dudamel himself became a professional musician by rising through the ranks of “El Sistema,” the national youth music organization in his native country. He studied violin and composition before turning to conducting with global success and fame.
In Los Angeles he has been nominated for and won many Grammys for his many recordings. He also been the music director of the Paris Opera.
It is worth noting: New York will soon have two of the most charismatic and recognizable conductors in the world: Dudamel; and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who is the music director of the Metropolitan Opera as well as the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal.
Here are stories from both sides now: from the West Coast he is leaving and the East Coast he will be going to.
Here is the story by The New York Times:
And here is the story from The Los Angeles Times:
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Classical music education: WYSO’s Youth Orchestra will perform a FREE concert of music by Antonin Dvorak, Peter Tchaikovsky, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Manuel DeFalla and more from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday night at Old Sauk Trails Park, thanks to the Gialamas Company.
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By Jacob Stockinger
All reports say that the 10-day tour to Argentina, completed just last weekend, was a rousing success for both members of the Youth Orchestra (below) of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) and for their many South American hosts and audiences.
Here is a link to the live real-time blog with the complete set of postings done for the tour:
But why take someone else’s word for it?
You can hear the musicians for yourself in some of the same music that the young performers played in several different locations in Argentina.
They will once again perform, under the baton of UW-Madison School of Music conductor James Smith, on this coming Wednesday night from 7 to 9 p.m. in Old Sauk Trails Park on Madison’s far west side at 1200 John Q. Hammons Drive..
The event actually starts at 5 p.m. when the park opens to audiences for picnicking and eating, kind of like a smaller Concert on the Square for the far west side and to greet the approaching end of summer and to reach lots of young people.
The concert typically attracts thousands. Just look at the parking!
Here is a link to the official site:
http://wyso.music.wisc.edu/events/concerts-recitals/
And here is a link to the major sponsor and underwriter, the real estate development firm The Gialamas Company, with more information:
http://www.gialamas.com/Events/tabid/164/vw/3/itemid/26/sm/615/d/20140813/Default.aspx
If you want to know about food, you will probably want at least to check out the two providers — Benvenuto’s and Sprecher’s — with whom you can reserve food and beverages if you don’t want to bring your own.
http://www.gialamas.com/Portals/0/CITP2014/Benvenuto’s%20Menu.pdf
http://www.gialamas.com/Portals/0/CITP2014/Sprecher’s.pdf
Finally, courtesy of WYSO, here is the complete program with approximate timings:
CONCERT IN THE PARK, AUGUST 13, 2014
Overture to Candide. By Leonard Bernstein. (6 minutes)
Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op.36, Fourth movement: Finale: Allegro con fuoco. By Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky. (10 minutes)
El sombrero de tres picos Three-Cornered Hat) Suite No. 2 By Manuel de Falla (12 minutes)
- Los vecinos
- Danza del molinero (Farruca)
- Danza final
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28. By Camille Saint-Saëns (12 minutes) with WYSO concerto contest winner violinist Savannah Albrecht (bel0w)
INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 8, in G major, Op. 88, Movement 4: Allegro ma non troppo. By Antonin Dvořák (10 minutes)
“Billy the Kid” Suite. By Aaron Copland (22 minutes)
- The Open Prairie
- Street in a Frontier Town
- Card Game at Night (Prairie Night)
- Gun Battle
- Celebration Dance (after Billy’s Capture)
- Billy’s Death
- The Open Prairie Again
“Over the Rainbow.” By Harold Arlen (4 minutes) with the acclaimed local jazz singer Gerri DiMaggio (below top). The performance is dedicated to the memory of Candy Gialamas (below bottom on the right, with her husband George Gialiamas).
“Malambo” from Estancia Suite, Op. 8a. By Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera (4 minutes). It is an audience favorite, a participation piece in South America. You can hear the high-octane and colorful orchestral music performed to an uproar of approval at the BBC Proms by Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestsra of Venezuela in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Have some fun, hear some fine music and learn how good music education is in WYSO and in this part of Wisconsin.
See you there.
Come say hi to The Ear.
Tags: Aaron Copland, Alberto Ginastera, Antonín Dvořák, Argentina, Arts, BBC, BBC Proms, Bernstein, Camille Saint-Saëns, Candide, Classical music, Copland, Dvorak, Education, Ginastera, Jacob Stockinger, John Q. Hammons, Leonard Bernstein, Madison, Manuel de Falla, Music, Music education, Orchestra, Proms, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, Tchaikovsky, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Venezuela, Violin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra, WYSO, YouTube
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