Musical Sunday

Earlier this month it was announced that Gustavo Dudamel, the charismatic and popular conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, would be leaving to take a new position as the conductor and musical director of the New York Philharmonic. Dudamel, equally famous for his energetic and personable style of conducting and his bouncing head of Harpo Marx-style curly hair, is a popular figure with his musicians and does a marvelous job of coaxing magnificent performances from them. I discovered Dudamel some years ago, and get real pleasure out of watching his conducting ... today for Musical Sunday, I offer up his conduct of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra playing Maurice Ravel's classic composition, Boléro.

For me, much of the joy of watching Dudamel conduct an orchestra is admiration of the sheer joy the man obviously feels at what he's doing, and how the orchestra responds to his enthusiasm. 

This is musical art at its finest.

Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your weekend. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo