Mahler: LA Phil/Dudamel ****
Barbican, 24th March 2016
For over a decade, Gustavo Dudamel has been the face of classical music’s new generation; figurehead for Venezuela’s Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra, poster boy for California. Long, black tight curls, beaming smile, twinkling eyes, energetic podium style. He even has a cool nickname: The Dude. The flyaway curls are shorter now and his conducting less frenetic. His Mahler – once impetuous and occasionally scrambled, has also calmed down, judging by this performance of the Third Symphony with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, concluding their Barbican residency. It’s more considered, more sober. Like The Dude himself, his Mahler has matured.
Gustavo Dudamel
© Keith Sheriff | Barbican
Read the full review on Bachtrack.