Dudamel's New York charisma

The programs conducted by Gustavo Dudamel always present an undoubted interest, beyond the charisma of the Venezuelan musician, something that also counts when it comes to the box office and enticing a concert season. The BCN Clàssics one has opened with the presence of Dudamel (who will soon return to Barcelona but in a different context) and in front of the orchestra of which he has been named music and artistic director, the legendary New York Philharmonic.

Having counted on the Orfeó Català and the Girls' Choir and part of the Children's Choir of the same formation means that Dudamel trusts our musicians, which should make us feel especially proud. Especially if the result ends with more than optimal results.

At this point, defending and vindicating the figure of John Adams would be unnecessary. But it is worth remembering that he is the American musician most consistent with the tradition that precedes him. It is no surprise, then, that in 2002 the New York Philharmonic itself commissioned Adams to write the piece On the transmigration of souls, to commemorate the attacks, a year earlier, on the World Trade Center. The challenge was great for local choral ensembles, because Adams occasionally places the tessituras at the limit. Overall, the score is interesting, also due to the electroacoustic incursions based on soundscapes. However, and if we exclude the circumstances of the commission, we must recognize that Adams has much better works.

The concert started with Invisible house, by Zosha Di Castri, a Canadian sound artist who plays with sinuous textures in a work premiered less than a month ago in New York. The piece is born from the poetry of Ilya Kaminsky, a Ukrainian-American poet who, in the poem Author’s prayer, writes about the difficulty and the necessity of making art in difficult times. And it links Ukrainian popular polyphony with strident and bright sonorities, with impeccable execution on stage.

The other side of the coin, the Russian one, was left for the second part with the Fifth Symphony by Prokofiev. It was in this work that the New York orchestra once again showed its best assets: top-tier brass, silky strings, and rhythmic precision, under the direction of an always charismatic Dudamel.