The higher the expectations, the greater the likelihood of disappointment. And the expectation of hearing Leonard Bernstein's musical West Side Story at the Lyceum, in a concert directed by Gustavo Dudamel (who had already been in charge of conducting the soundtrack for Spielberg's 2021 film), was at the top of his game. That's why we went in playfully and left excited, because I don't think any of the spectators who were at the Liceu on Tuesday night will ever forget this performance. West Side Story.

There are few things more stimulating than the enthusiasm of musicians chatting about music, especially when they're not talking about their music. It happened this Monday during the press conference for the presentation of West Side Story at the Liceu, where two performances have been scheduled, in a symphonic concert version, on July 29 and 31. West Side Story You can feel New York under construction. It's fascinating," says Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel, who will conduct the Liceu Symphony Orchestra in both performances. "Bernstein is a unique character: creator, pedagogue, composer, conductor, and a humanist." "Wonderful. I don't see anyone capable of doing everything he did. He was too many people in one person, like Maestro Abreu [the founder of the Venezuelan System of Orchestras and Hearts]," continues Dudamel, touched by Bernstein's influence from a young age: "West Side Story It has accompanied me since I was a child. Especially the mambo, it became an emblem of my youth with the youth orchestra of the Simón Bolívar System."