Dudamel!

I've just returned from one of the most exhilarating musical experiences of my life.

The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and its 26 yo conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, were in Boston, playing to a full house in Symphony Hall. They started with a superb performance of Bartok's concerto for orchestra. After the intermission they continued with Beethoven's 7th symphony, with such energy and accuracy you rarely hear from mature orchestras, and this is an orchestra with some 12 and 14 year old kids (the age range is 12 to 26). The audience was roaring with appreciation and, for lack of a better word, love. And then they almost brought the house down with their rendition of Bernstein's West Side Story - with almost 200 players on stage, this is a huge orchestra, but with the vitality and agility of a single-minded daemon.

The official part of the programs ends after 2.5 hours, and the audience doesn't let them leave. Dudamel returns for an encore. The lights go out for a few seconds, and when they're back the players have taken off the black jackets and are wearing light rain jackets in Venezuelan flag colors: red, blue and yellow.

Three anchors later, the audience is in ecstasy, the players are walking around the stage waving their instruments (while continuing to play them, god knows how), Dudamel is lost in the orchestra, cellos and double-basses fly in the air, some players walk around the stage, climb on the conductor stand, jokingly conducting the riot, stumping with their feet, doing "the wave", grinning from ear to ear... and the music keeps flowing.



Absolutely amazing. I've never seen such an explosion of talent. I'm still smiling and shaking. Read more about it in the Globe or the LA Times.

As Simon Rattle said, "The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela conducted by Gustavo Dudamel is the greatest show on Earth." I'm happy I was there.