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More than 50 million people worldwide will follow you conducting the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on their tv screens – do you have stage fright with that many spectators?
The good thing is that only about 1500 concertgoers will actually be in the Musikverein that morning, so I will try not to think about the 49,9 million people on their television sets.
How will this encounter between the fiery Venezulean and the rather quiet Viennese temperament sound like?
The Vienna Philharmonic and I have had so many beautiful projects over the past decade together, almost thirty in total, so we’re not really new to one another. They know my temperament well, and I think we are actually very close in how we see the music.
The sparks fly, when you conduct. How do you evoke this incredible energy in the music?
I wish I could tell you I had a secret, but we were always taught from the beginning in Venezuela by our beloved teacher José Antonio Abreu, to honour the music itself - and everything else, inspiration, motivation and energy will simply come from that intense relationship with the notes on the page. Music is fire, it is passion, it transcends what we know, and there is nothing more special than when sparks fly when great music is made!
Your first choice was the violin – what made You change to conducting?
For me this wasn’t a change, it was more like a progression, I still do play the violin today. There was the possibility to conduct, so when I was asked, I decided to give it a try and I still cannot believe what has happened over the past twenty years.
You come from a family of musicians, still your career is strongly linked to „el sistema“, a program which grants underprivileged Venezulean children access to classical music. Is free admission to musical education important?
What I believe is that access to music and art is essential and cannot remain the exclusive domain of those who have the financial resources to pay for the lessons. Music is a gift which all of mankind deserves to hold and to own. It is also something which - once you own it - can never be taken away. You give a child the ability to appreciate music, art and beauty and that is a gift that child will carry with him through his entire life.
Is music able to change the world into a better place?
Absolutely. I have dedicated my life to this cause.
The music of the Strauss dynasty traditionally makes up a significant part of the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. What is Your relationship with the „Wiener Walzer“?
We’ve all played these, hummed them, whistled them, had them in our ears, since we were children, and I love these works. They’re so playful, so fun, so very very Viennese! I can’t wait to start my new year 2017 with the Vienna Philharmonic and this marvellously upbeat repertoire - it’s what we all hope for in the new year: optimism, fun, happiness, joy.
At the New Year's Concert 2007 in Caracas you led the audience with mambos by Pérez Prado and from Bernstein's West Side Story into a real frenzy. Will we hear a mambo on the 1st of january 2017 at the „Musikverein“, too?
That’s a secret until the day - but what I can promise are a few surprises and a great time for everyone!
Gustavo Dudamel begann seine musikalische Ausbildung im Rahmen des Sistema de Orquestas Juveniles de Venezuela. 1999 wurde er mit nur 18 Jahren Chefdirigent des Orquesta Sinfónica de la Juventud Venezolana Simón Bolívar, das er in Folge zu einem weltweit angesehenen Klangkörper formte. Von 2007 bis 2012 leitete Dudamel die Göteborger Symphoniker, seit der Saison 2009/2010 ist er Chefdirigent und musikalischer Leiter des Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Am 1.1.2017 Dirigiert Gustavo Dudamel - als jüngster Dirigent in der 75-jährigen Geschichte des Neujahrskonzertes - die Wiener Philharmoniker im Großen Musikvereinssaal.
INFO:
Neujahrskonzert der Wiener Philharmoniker
1.1.2017, 11:15 Uhr, Großer Musikvereinssaal
Gustavo Dudamel und das Simon Bolivar Orchestra
Beethoven Symphonien
26. - 30.3.2017, Großer Musikvereinssaal
copyright: rois&stubenrauch | für Cercle Diplomatique 4/2016
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