duda-mania?

This is the review that did it for me – New York Times music critic Anthony Tommasini fairly wetting himself over the Philharmonic debut of conductor it-boy of this decade, Gustavo Dudamel.

Somehow, he withstood the pressure and delivered teeming, impassioned and supremely confident performances of works by Carlos Chávez, Dvorak and Prokofiev. Clearly, the Philharmonic players were inspired by the boundless joy and intensity of his music-making.

That Mr. Dudamel charmed the Philharmonic’s archivist into lending him the Bernstein baton was also significant. Once this kinetic young conductor took the Philharmonic’s podium, the comparisons with Bernstein were obvious.

I’m normally not at all a cynical person (ok, I’m a little bit cynical – sometimes), but I’m starting to get suspicious about the almost preternatural amount of hype that is surrounding the Venezuelan wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel. You can search via Google and prove me wrong if you wish, but I cannot recall a single even lukewarm review of a concert that he’s conducted since he catapulted into the international scene about a year or so ago. That’s strange. You can find plenty of fair, middling, or bad reviews of just about every “great” conductor since the time of Mahler – especially at the beginning of their careers – along with the occasional raves.

It may be that I’m a pretty avid devotee of the adage “if it sounds to good to be true…it is”, but the accolades heaped upon this 26 year old are almost approaching the realm of the implausible. Perhaps I’m haunted by my reading long ago of (I shudder to reference him, but…) Norman Lebrecht’s Who Killed Classical Music?, and his expose of how the major artist managers essentially have a stranglehold over who appears where and gets what job in the classical music world. Perhaps it’s also related to reading the blog On An Overgrown Path, which raises good questions about Venezuela’s El Sistema and its possible uses as a propaganda tool by president Hugo Chavez, and about the mega arts management firm who has been pulling strings for Dudamel these past few years (and who represents just about all of the A-list conductors currently in contention for all the major orchestral posts that are currently open).

It will be interesting to see where all of this goes. I am excited by the prospect of a major, new young talent that has already been described as “next Leonard Bernstein”, but I’m also skeptical that Dudamel will be the savior of classical music – which is how seems increasingly to be painted, and is not a mantle that he aspires to or deserves to be shouldered with. Clearly, the Los Angeles Philharmonic is hoping that he will be “the next big thing”, and he’s just the sort of talent that will play well in LA – and the musicians there seem enthusiastic about his appointment as well. I was talking with a person in the industry the other day, and they pointed out that Dudamel has a very small repertoire at present (maybe a dozen pieces repeated as he makes his debut rounds) and that’s a long way from what you need to lead a major, world-class orchestra. He also has energy and enthusiasm in spades, but how will he deal with the rigors of fund-raising, schmoozing with patrons, and a veteran orchestra with its own set of agendas and the union system of checks to the power and influence of the music director – only time will tell.

For now, I’ll read the glowing reviews and hope for the best – and be thankful that there are at least some stories about classical music which sweep the world media that actually contain good news.