The heads of the orchestra, honored by a star on the Walk of Fame can be counted on the fingers of one hand: Eugene Ormandy, Leopold Stokowski, Bruno Walter, Arturo Toscanini… The last time it was in 1960. Gustavo Dudamel has received the prestigious award on Tuesday for its artistic qualities and its action at the head of the Los Angeles philharmonic Orchestra. Gustavo Dudamel became the first Venezuelan to have a star on the boulevard in california. John Williams, his mentor and friend, gave tribute to the one he considers as “a great artist”, before an assembly where we could see the actor Christoph Waltz.
” READ ALSO – Gustavo Dudamel: “Without a thrill, I will cease to conduct”
“Who could have imagined that the son of a middle-class family of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, could be here today ?”
Recalling that “the orchestra of Los Angeles has changed a lot” since the arrival in 2009 of Gustavo Dudamel, the composer of Star Wars commended his younger brother for “the role of culture and education” that took the training.
In 2011, Gustavo Dudamel founded the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, a program that facilitates the access to the music education of tens of thousands of children of the difficult neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Gustavo Dudamel, the face drawn with emotion, thanked John Williams for “the lessons learned at his side”.
Well decided to compete with the Big Five (Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, with his orchestra, Gustavo Dudamel has done a lot for the recognition of the “L. a. Phil” in recent years. His talent, combined with a personality affable, he attracted the esteem of the public as of such prestigious conductors as Simon Rattle or Claudio Abbado. In Paris, it has already ignited several times, the Philharmonie, as in the memorable Symphonie n°3 of Mahler in 2016. The following year, Gustavo Dudamel conducts the concert of the New Year at the Musikverein in Vienna ; at only 35 years of age, it is a feat. In December 2018, he made his first steps at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in Othello.
A star against Maduro
Under the sun of Los Angeles, Gustavo Dudamel has dedicated his award to the “people of Venezuela”. “With the desire that it may give a bit of hope and inspiration, while the social and political situation of the country is unacceptable,” he proclaimed, in English and in Spanish.
“The voice of the majority must be heard and respected,” said Gustavo Dudamel. He was referring to protests launched on Wednesday against Nicolás Maduro on the initiative of the president of the Parliament Juan Guaido. He declared himself acting president on the same day.
Gustavo Dudamel is not tender with Nicolás Maduro. The head is in open war with him since 2016, when the violist of 18-year-old was killed during demonstrations by a bullet from the police. “It is time to listen to the people: enough is enough,” he then roared.
“Who could have imagined that the son of a middle-class family of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, whose only skill is to wave a stick in the air, could be here today?”, if is excited about Gustavo Dudamel. He paid tribute to his first master, José Antonio Abreu, the founder of El Sistema , the national structure created in 1975, and intended to save young people from delinquency, through music.
The tremendous success of the structure has inspired many other initiatives around the world, such as the project Demos in France. Today, it is Gustavo Dudamel, who conducts the orchestra Simon Bolivar, attached to El Sistema . In 2012, he also founded with his wife, Eloísa Maturén (they divorced since), the Fundación Dudamel for music education, which has, for example, enabled the creation of ten-eight orchestras inspired by El Sistema in Massachusetts.
