“Gustavo Dudamel Discoveries” – Varied program of selections performed by four different orchestras [TrackList follows]; Documentary DVD “The Promise of Music” by Enrique Sanchez Lansch, on the El Sistema music school founded by Dudamel – DGG (CD+DVD)

by | Oct 18, 2012 | CD+DVD

“Gustavo Dudamel Discoveries” – Varied program of selections performed by four different orchestras [TrackList follows]; Documentary DVD “The Promise of Music” by Enrique Sanchez Lansch, on the El Sistema music school founded by Dudamel – DGG CD (80:38) & 16:9 DVD with PCM stereo track (91:00) B007253-00 [9/25/12] *****:
I found the DVD of the Lansch documentary on Dudamel to be the main interest here, though the CD sampler is certainly an interesting collection. The prize-winning documentary details Dudamel’s roots in Venezuelas’ El Sistema, his work with the underprivileged young people who benefit from it—just as he did—and their preparations for a challenging live performance in Berlin.
Dudamel is the music director of orchestras now on three different continents, and one of the most popular guest conductors in the world. His energy about everything seems unquenchable. The stories about the actual lives of the various members of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra reminded me of the touching similar stories in the documentary on the Congo’s only symphony orchestra—also made by German filmmakers, incidentally.
Now for the CD.  It may not strike you as worth your consideration, but it’s not your usual sampler. The most amazing tracks are entire movements of Bruckner, Mahler and Mendelssohn symphonies. There are two Venezuelan folk-influenced dance pieces by Arturo Marquez, and an interesting excerpt from Revueltas’ Night of the Mayans.  What is frustrating is that although four orchestras are credited: The Simon Bolivar (no longer the Youth Symphony because many of the players are staying on past their youth), the Gothenburg Symphony, The Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic—it doesn’t say which of the 13 tracks are played by which orchestras. (That is listed for you below.) The youthful shouting at the conclusion of the “Mambo” from Bernstein’s West Side Story, however, is clearly the Simon Bolivar Orchestra.
CD TrackList:
1. Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op. 67: 1st movement, Allegro con brio by Ludwig van Beethoven 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
Period: Classical
Written: 1807-1808; Vienna, Austria
2. Symphony no 5 in E minor, Op. 64: 3rd movement, Waltz by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
Period: Romantic
Written: 1888; Russia
3. Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: no 4, Trépak by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
Period: Romantic
Written: 1892; Russia
4. Symphony no 9 in D minor, WAB 109: 2nd movement, Scherzo by Anton Bruckner 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1891-1896; Vienna, Austria
5. Festive Overture, Op. 96 by Dmitri Shostakovich 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1954; USSR
6. Samson et Dalila, Op. 47: Bacchanale by Camille Saint-Saëns 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Written: 1877
7. Symphony no 5 in C sharp minor: 4th movement, Adagietto by Gustav Mahler 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
Period: Romantic
Written: 1901-1902; Vienna, Austria
8. Symphony no 3 in A minor, Op. 56 “Scottish”: 2nd movement, Vivace non troppo by Felix Mendelssohn 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1842; Germany
9. Danzón no 2 by Arturo Márquez 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1994; Mexico
10.La noche de los mayas: no 2, Noche de jaranas by Silvestre Revueltas 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1939; Mexico
11. Le sacre du printemps: no 14, Danse sacrale by Igor Stravinsky 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911-1913; Switzerland
12. Conga del Fuego Nuevo by Arturo Márquez 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
Period: 20th Century
13. West Side Story: Symphonic Dances – Mambo by Leonard Bernstein 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957; USA
—John Sunier

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