Conducting prodigy wows at Lucerne

Gustavo Dudamel will conduct his Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra at Lucerne (courtesy of Lucerne Easter Festival)

Rising star conductor Gustavo Dudamel and his young orchestra from Venezuela opened the Lucerne Festival at Easter on Saturday.

This was the first time that Dudamel and his musicians – many of whom come from deprived backgrounds – have appeared in Switzerland.

Dudamel, a diminutive figure famed for his passionate and energetic interpretations, conducted a programme of Mahler. The concert ended with a standing ovation.

Two further concerts are planned during the weeklong festival, which finishes on April 1.

“Dudamel has already appeared in Italy and in Germany, he even did Don Giovanni at La Scala in Milan last autumn,” Lucerne Festival spokeswoman Barbara Higgs told swissinfo before the concert.

“Among his patrons are Simon Rattle or Claudio Abbado, who have been working with him and the orchestra in Venezuela, and they have very high esteem for his talent and his conducting.”

Dudamel, who first took up the baton at age seven and was conducting his first orchestra at 12, has had a meteoric rise in the music world.

Since coming to notice during a European tour, he has been awarded an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon and will take up the post of Principal Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Sweden’s national orchestra, later this year.

El Sistema

His orchestra, the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela – to which he says he will remain faithful – is made up of 250 musicians between the ages of 12 and 26.

It is part of the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela – known as El Sistema – a project founded by Venezuelan conductor and politician José Antonio Abreu, which enables street children and young people from deprived backgrounds to enjoy a musical education free of charge.

The scheme, set up 30 years ago, has revolutionised musical training in Venezuela, which until that point only had two orchestras, mostly made up of foreigners.

More than 240,000 children have benefited, with around 90 per cent coming from poor families.

“The project wants to fight poverty and crime through music and give children the possibility to shape their futures,” said Higgs.

Apart from Dudamel – whose father was a musician – El Sistema has produced several other stars, including double bass player Edicson Ruiz, who was accepted into the prestigious Berlin Philharmonic at the age of 17.

Pride and responsibility

The scheme starts with children as young as two or three from all over Venezuela. They are given instruments and attend local music schools.

“It is very disciplined and organised, it helps these children and they are very proud of being part of the Sistema,” Higgs said.

Older children teach younger children which gives them a solid basis and responsibility, she added.

Standards in the orchestra itself are very high. The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra has recently played with the Berlin Philharmonic.

“On the one hand it’s a wonderful social project, on the other they are top rate musicians,” said Higgs.

swissinfo, Isobel Leybold-Johnson

Key facts

Gustavo Dudamel
1981: Born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela
1999: Appointed music director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, starts touring
2004: Wins Bamberger Symphoniker Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition
2005: Signs exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon
2006: Conducts at La Scala, makes New York debut
2007: Will take up post as maestro of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

Lucerne Festival at Easter

Other highlights at Easter include the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, under its director Mariss Jansons, which will offer one orchestral concert and another of sacred music featuring the Bavarian Radio Chorus.

There will also be contemporary music, with three world premières during the Laboratorium Ensemble concert.

Another highlight will be a concert of the Concentus Musicus Wien and the Arnold Schoenberg Choir under Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

The choral concert, performed by musicians from Lucerne and Weimar, will feature a program suitable to the Easter season.

In the final concert, the King’s Consort and Choir from London will perform Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah in its English version.