Rome – Abdul Rahman Bitar - When they said the concert of the season will be given in Rome by Gustavo Dudamel from Venezuela who will play Gustav Mahler, we asked what has Venezuela’s President Chavez to do with classical music, and how could such a young conductor be the hope of classical music to remain in existence. The answer came five years ago from the illustrious Italian conductor Claudio Abbado ( of Arab origin from Andalusia from Ibn Abbad family) who discovered Dudamel’s talent during a trip to Latin America and then appointed him as his Assistant at the Berlin Philharmonic.

Dudamel led the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Mahler’s Third symphony and demonstrated that he deserves all the praise that was poured on him such as “ never met a more talented man “ described by the British conductor Sir Simon Rattle. Dudamel was identified and trained by Ibro who invented a new system to train young talent from poor areas in Venezuela where crime and drugs were rampant. Dudamel has now moved to Los Angeles, USA after celebrating his 28 birthday and took over as the musical director of its Philharmonic Orchestra, a post once occupied by the Italian maestro, Carlo Maria Giulini and until recently by the Finnish conductor Issa Pekka Salonen.

In Rome, Dudamel conducted almost dancing on the podium while moving his hands and legs and leading an orchestra of 100 elements and about the same number of chorus with his vivid expressions and enthusiastic gestures. His method was certainly Latin and not European full of vitality and force, and the audience reacted at the end by an explosion of clapping that lasted a quarter of an hour. Dudamel successfully managed to convey the feeling of happiness that permeates the Third symphony, which is not the case in Mahler’s other melancholic symphonies with a tender feeling coupled with that of grandeur, and change of mood but the Maestro was always in control of tonal contradictions.

Dudamel loves all kinds of classical and dancing music, and spends his free time dancing the Salsa with his wife. He is a unique breed of youth that believes in music that ranges from pop to classical, and he is not shy about it.