Oh yes, the man from Venezuela has arrived and there are just a few days until his official debut. Of course, the media histeria is terrible and it goes from sincere wonder to racist statements. It seems that many people at LA Phil want to take advantage of Dudamel’s charm -something real, that makes Dudamel the man and the artist that he is- and turn that into a set of tricks that will sell concert tickets… but that would be the wrong and the easy way to build the foundations for are new era at LAPhil. And it also makes it difficult for Dudamel, a devoted professional that surely wants to make the most and the better for his orchestra.
Is the road for Dudamel plagued with danger? maybe. Yes, like all conductors, he will have to face the bad and the ugly.. Rattle and Abbado faced them in Berlin, in the form of journalists and conservative classical music buffs that did not want changes nor experimentation and that were ready to pick out every mistake or novelty as a flaw. And that kind of strategy is dirty, but it sells news papers and magazines and gets people talking…
So Dudamel will have the chance of a lifetime. If he remains with his feet on the ground, he will be a great conductor that made wonder with LAPhil.. I trust it will be so.
Gustavo Dudamel goes to LAPhil.
