Bowled over by L.A.’s new maestro

And so, Saturday, it came to pass. After all the extraordinary buildup — the billboards and the bilingual media frenzy — 18,000 people from every corner of the city came to the Hollywood Bowl to bear witness.

He goes by many names: Gustavo the Great. Gustavissimo. The Dude. Some have taken to referring to the new music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic by his initials, thus: G*D.

It’s all too much, we critics judiciously caution. But in his first return to the Hollywood Bowl since making his U.S. debut there in 2005, the Dude pulled it off. Joy reigned. On Saturday, Gustavo Dudamel concluded "¡Bienvenido Gustavo!" — the 28-year-old Venezuelan conductor’s first concert as the L.A. Philharmonic’s music director — with a Beethoven Ninth to be remembered.

This was not so much a Beethoven Ninth for the ages (he has a lot of competition), as it was a performance of Beethoven’s last and largest symphony, an iconic work of classical music with a cosmic scope and a call for universal brotherhood, for multicultural Los Angeles at this moment.

Perhaps, most important, this was Beethoven for all ages. Dudamel made his first appearance on stage with the nearly 100 children of YOLA Expo Centre Youth Orchestra, who have had instruments in their hands only a little more than a year. As they sawed through a version by Steven Venz of Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy" from the Ninth’s last movement, they showed determination and pride. They had something to prove and they proved it, and that was an indescribable thrill.

Leonard Bernstein once said that we can never express too much joy when it comes to Beethoven, and Dudamel took him at his word. He needed some time warming up. Dudamel is not all Dionysian all the time, but the Greek god of pleasure was always looking over his shoulder.

This Ninth started out with proper seriousness. The craggy opening movement, a kind of calling up of creation, needed more depth of sound. But to achieve that it would have also needed more depth from a sound system still warming up.

The dance-like second movement had great snap and was followed by a rapturous slow movement.

But it wasn’t until the final movement, with its setting of Schiller’s "Ode to Joy," that Dudamel really began to demonstrate what all the fuss is about. In the opening, crazy made a sudden turn to grace. A chorus of nearly 200 (the Los Angeles Master Chorale supplemented with members from several local choruses) and four terrific vocal soloists (Measha Brueggergosman, Michelle DeYoung, Toby Spence and Matthew Rose) reached possible record levels of exhilaration.

Here, Dudamel tested limits. He took the final measures faster than reasonable but just short of impossible. A full moon rose over the Bowl’s hedges, as if elevated by the energy on stage. The camera panned over a multicultural chorus for the Bowl’s large video screens. Schiller’s quaint text was translated in alternating English and Spanish.

When it was over, Dudamel spoke briefly of the meaning of Beethoven, of the children and our future.

We are a continent together, he said, no North, no South, no Central America. He then repeated the last five minutes of the symphony with fireworks. It felt, at that moment, like the greatest show on earth.

-- Mark Swed

Photo: Dudamel at the Bowl. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times

Related stories:

L.A. welcomes Phil's Dudamel with joy

A world beat to Dudamel's welcome

 

Comments

[TomTallis]

Well, I hope he's an improvement on the kapellmeisterish Salonen.

[Dominik von Muehlberg]

*LOL* @ TomTallis:
don´t worry. the dude is anything but kapellmeisterish *ggg* just the opposite! i love this crazy guy. LA can be proud to have him :)

[Marvin]

Ok, call me ignorant, but... what is it about this guy that has gotten him on the front page of the LA Times (or at least this website) every day for the past several days? I'm not saying a new conductor for the LA Phil isn't newsworthy - but the Times is paying more attention to this than to, say, the healthcare debate.

[LudwigVan]

Okay, Marvin, you're ignorant.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to post something!

[Noah]

@ Marvin

There have been front-page news stories about the health care debate almost every day for the past 4 months. I hardly think you can fault the LA Times for not giving appropriate column space to the health care debate. So forgive them for giving a few days of front page news to a very exciting new Los Angeles icon who inspires people and brings communities together through music.

[PLH]

I'm a Hispanic-American living in Europe and some Latin American countries since many year ago, who had the good fortune to see Gustavo Dudamel raise from his early beginnings as a member of the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra of Venezuela, playing the violin and then conducting that same orchestra a few years later. Throughout the years, he has perfected his ability to transmit his love and enthusiasm for classical music to hundreds of thousands of people around the world with his ever-smiling face! For those who don't know what the fuss about Gustavo Dudamel is, there is just one word to describe what Gustavo Dudamel does for classical music and that is "MAGIC"! .... and believe me, every single major philharmonic orchestra in the world would give anything to have him as its music director but he chose the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra (a rather low-key orchestra) out of an altruistic wish to sow the seeds of love for classical music over a broader and less knowledgeable audience. You guys are sooooooo lucky!

[Mecatli]

4 Marvin!!!!!!!

Why music is an effective agent of social development?
"It is evident that music has to be recognized as an element of socialization, as an agent of social development in the highest sense, because it transmits the highest values - solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it has the ability to unite an entire community and to express sublime feelings" Maestro Abreu-

Health not only encompasses physical and metal well being, but also well being of the soul!!!!!! This suggests that emotional well-being is at the fundamental core of physical and mental wellness....... Not only is Dudamel a genuine agent of social change....he not only believes, lives it, and breaths it......he does it!!!!! Check out his new pilot work for L.A. youth YOPA!!!!!! This is a public option Obama and democrats are too scared to push.......... Health Care via Music accessIbility to those more marginalized in society......

I hear you Marvin that today's health care debate is front and center to the nation, but how many front story's you see for the arts, which health care of the mind and soul. I hope with Gustavo in L.A. more front pages for the arts are to come!!!!!!!! L.A. is humbled....... by Gustavo's residence in the city of Angeles.........

[MJ]

So nice that you "judiciously caution" your readers that this hype is all too much. Such judiciousness subtly loaded in that single sentence of passive caution! Well done. We stand cautioned now, after days of your drool-soaked love letters to Mr. Dudamel.

Cute headline, too, "Bowled Over". But since the Disney hall isn't so pun-friendly, may I suggest the headline for your next column, when Mr. Dudamel opens there: "Obsessively Infatuated ", or how about "Drunk on The Dude", or better yet, "I Love You, Man!"

[Monica]

@Peter

He conducted both. It was an almost 5 hour concert. His welcome to LA.
The whole concert is on the Hollywood Bowl website, video on demand until tomorrow. Well worth watching. Truly magical. At the end of it, even the long time musicians seemed as giddy as kids. It was spectacular!!! We are so lucky to have him here in LA. Can't wait to see him live.

[HERNAN CONDE CABRERA]

I went to the concert last night since I was one of the lucky one with my family
to get tickets for that unforgettable event. I believe everybody in the audience
were so enthusiastic to be part of that piece of history. Gustavo was very
energetic, passionated and deeply involve in every musical note.
The Hollywood Bowl get to much excited and with all the reason.
The Gustavomania arrived in L.A. Bravo Maestro

Hernan Conde

[Nelson]

I saw the concert. It was great. What I liked the most was all the people that clapped between movements (you're not supposed to). That means that for most of the people there, it was their first time at an academic (classical) music concert. That is what Dudamel does. He charms the masses. He rose from the masses, and he can communicate with them. He comes from a small town in Venezuela, rose from the lower-middle class through music, married a Venezuelan "princess", has been touted by royalty, but he has NEVER lost his humilty, his love of the masses, of his roots. His favorite music is SALSA, and he conducts with that same salsa passion. To all this, then you must add that he is a virtuoso conductor. So even IF he didn't have the smile, the hair, or the charm he has, he would still be regarded as one of the world's best conductors. Oh, and he's 28. He's just getting started.

[Linda McDougall]

I've lived in Mexico for many years, working with classical musicians who'd have died to have been part of the scene in LA last night. As an avid follower and supporter of El Sistema and Maestro Abreu (whom Claudio Abbado calls "a saint"), I watched the webcast of the concert as if I'd never heard the Ninth before. What Gustavo did with it, and thanks to those first-class musicians and singers, really goes far beyond any nit-picking criticism. Did anyone else notice the smiles on the chorus' faces as they belted out the Ode to Joy? Did Schiller's words not cut through all the misery of daily newspaper's reporting?

I think just about everyone, as your report so beautifully states, had just been part of the greatest show on earth.

Gustavo, aside from being El Sistema's pride and joy, with his talent and humility, is an ambassador not only of change and a type of enlightenment, but of classical music. I too, realized when the audience clapped between movements, that many were experiencing this amazing iconic music for the first time.

The fireworks were already going off in the communal heart before they illustrated what can only be described as a Dionysian healing ritual. Bravo Dudamel! - and bravo to the foresight of the LA board of directors for grabbing the curly-headed imp before anyone else. At last, American latinos have a new voice. Felicidades a todos!

[peter wolf]

I could not attend Saturday's Hollywood Bowl performance but heard it on the radio. What I heard shocked me. An out of control audience who did not even have the sense to not shout and applaud in the middle of the music. Further, Dudamel's pandering to his fellow Latino's ( who I would wager never pay to attend a classical music event) disgusted me. Not one word of thanks, in English, to the audience members who DO attend payed performances and are therefore the people paying his huge salary.
Message to Gustavo; It is WE, not Venezuela, that is paying your salary. This will become obvious the first night you conduct in front of a paying audience. You will see only Anglos and Asians. So save the Latino 'brotherhood' bunk for when you are among them.

[Spare us]

Oh, Lord. Here we go again. When is the multicultural hype going to end?

[Charlotte in Santa Monica]

Gracias, Gustavo! And also to the LA Phil, returning to relevancy like no other U.S. symphony... It was indeed a 9th to remember!

[Carol]

I listened on the radio, and when Ode to Joy came on, it was amazing. I'm not hugely into music and expected to keep puttering around, with the music in the background, but it filled my living room, made me pay attention. It was a performance for the ages.

[Sam]

This guy may be good, but isn't there any more relevant news that belongs on th front page of a major newspaper? I can see this story being on the front of the Calendar section, but the front page? Cmon, LA Times, use better judgement.

[Harry Bowers]

A wonderful example of "art will out"!

[Silicones]

People need to realize what I believe is happening here - traditional news is no longer a viable business for the printed press. Newspapers have to combine sponsored news releases with traditional news in order to survive. If people want news, simply bring up your favorite web browser and point it to google, yahoo, msnbc, cnn, foxnews, etc., depending on how biased towards the left or right you want the news to be. LA Times appears to be in the middle of a transformation to survive. Not sure if infomercials is the only way to do it. Journalism as we knew it is no longer. How many of you actually paid any money to read this article? I bet most of you only subscribe to the Sunday paper to get the coupons and adds.

[James]

Dudamel is a fine young conductor. He's nowhere near as good as Salonen but in time, who knows?

We need classical music to survive. We can't just keep having concerts for grey hairs. On the other hand, louder is not better. Rock concert atmosphere is not better.