Dudamel is named on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Dudamel is named on Hollywood Walk of Fame

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norman lebrecht

January 08, 2019

Comments

  • aj says:

    joke for the day ?

    • Observer says:

      Isn’t it a good thing that a classical musician is recognized and honored as a contributor to the arts and culture? What’s wrong with it? Do you think there ought to be a special tree-lined, paved-with-marble street just for classical musicians? Apply for a grant, charge admission, keep it elite?

    • Jeff Koerber says:

      Jealous much?

  • Petros Linardos says:

    Have any of his predecessors had that honor? I am particularly curious about Andre Previn and Carlo Maria Giulini. Previn because he was a LAPO music director with a real Hollywood connection; Giulini because he was arguably the greatest conductor among LAPO music directors of at least the last 50 years, and as remote from Hollywood culture as they get.

    • Caravaggio says:

      Good question. If you google either name + Hollywood Walk of Fame, nothing comes up. So apparently there’s your answer. Shame.

    • Mick the Knife says:

      Guilini was a bad fit for LA. LA isn’t old Vienna.

      • Petros Linardos says:

        Define bad fit. I remember a marvellous Brahms 2nd LP, and believe that was by no means their only excellent recording. Arkivmusic lists quite a few.

        • Cubs Fan says:

          Giulini gave some tremendously fine concerts in LA. I still remember a viscerally exciting Pictures at an Exhibition – and that was almost 40 years ago. But the glitzy, glamourous, hi-energy LA lifestyle didn’t go down well with his quiet, almost reclusive manner. Salonen and Dudamel fit LA quite well.

      • Harrumph says:

        Giulini was a vastly finer conductor than His Dudeness of the Medusoid Locks.

        • Ms.Melody says:

          Giulini was a great conductor, Dudamel is certainly not devoid of talent and has conducted some very fine performances.
          To make an issue out of his hair is mean and childish.I hope he keeps his mane for many years to come.

    • Novagerio says:

      And how about the venerable Bruno Walter? The Columbia Symphony Orchestra, The orchestra Walter recorded with in his last august years was in fact mostly formed by musicians from the LA Phil.
      But of course, the media-hyped clowns rule today…

    • M2N2K says:

      Those two had not, possibly because CMG’s tenure as LAPO’s MD was not long enough and AP’s was even shorter.

  • Deborath says:

    No surprise here. Any chihuahua get one, nowadays.

  • Sue Sonata Form says:

    Good for you, Dude. Well done (if that’s what floats your boat).

  • V.Lind says:

    Has he had anything to do with the movies? I thought that was what the walk of fame was for.

    • violafan says:

      No, there are many musicians on the walk of fame including Stravinsky, Bernstein, Toscanini, Primrose etc.

    • Phillip Ayling says:

      The Walk of Fame is all showbiz and commerce.

      Dudamel has had some involvement with the movies. He conducted some of John Williams’ score for The Force Awakens and the recent James Newton Howard score for the Disney film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. He also wrote a score for a Venezuelan film called The Liberator.

      Technically, the Hollywood Walk of Fame honors outstanding achievement in the Entertainment Industry, so performance in Movies, Television, Radio, Audio Recordings and Live Theatre are all qualifying categories.

      Those categories have even been broadened sometimes to include Astronauts, Sports Figures and other celebrities.

      The selecting organization, The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce accepts nominations for honorees yearly. The nominations generally come from Studios, TV Networks, Record Companies, Agents, Businesses or Fan Clubs attached to a nominee.

      The biggest stickler is money. If you are subsequently chosen for a ‘Star’, the nominating entity must give the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce $40,000 for costs connected to installing the ‘Star’, holding the ceremony and maintaining the Walk of Fame.

  • Cubs Fan says:

    Well, finally LA recognizes another LA Phil music director. I think the only previous one on the WoF is Zubin Mehta. Some how Klemperer, Previn, Rattle, Giulini weren’t worthy. At least they have Kostelanetz, Welk, Melachrino and Mantovani. And they also have never honored some great conductors in their midst: Waxman or Herrmann, but Bruno Walter did make the cut.

    • Enquiring Mind says:

      Maybe you are reading a little too much into the selection process. But of all of those names, I would ask, “why not Previn”. He seems well known.

      • M2N2K says:

        It is also well known that AP’s music directorship of the LA Phil was not successful.

      • RBerry2000 says:

        Surely Previn deserves it: not many music former music directors of the LA Phil have won four Academy Awards, are successful jazz and classical pianists, and principal conductors of major orchestras (London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Phil…). He has enough music merits (more so than Dudamel). Perhaps he refused to sign the nomination for the star and did not want to pay the 40.000 USD it costs to get one and show up to the compulsory ceremony unveiling the star.

    • Rgiarola says:

      Cos walk of fame is all about show business, but not necessarily about something else. There isn’t also Schoenberg star although he had been living in LA. In this case, it’s fit right with Dudamel specially with the one from 10 to 5 years ago. Now it’s seems that he isn’t doing too much show nor business as it used to be. The messiah seems to be happy, if he will be able to be a Mehta in the next 30 or 40 years. I must confess, much more than I could expect from him since the beginning with all that hype. Bravo Dudamel!

      Cos walk of fame is all about show business, but not necessarily about something else. There isn’t also Schoenberg star although he had been living in LA. In this case, it’s fit right with Dudamel specially with the one from 10 to 5 years ago. Now it’s seems that he isn’t doing too much show nor business as it used to be. The messiah seems to be happy, if he will be able to be a Mehta in the next 30 or 40 years. I must confess, much more than I could expect from him since the beginning with all that hype. Bravo Dudamel!

      Now all Dudamel’s storm troopers can thumbs down, since they never ever accepted someone that just didn’t get all that fussy Wunderkind Messiah savior of classical music, and all other things created not by me for sure.

    • M2N2K says:

      Fyi: Simon Rattle was a “principal guest” but never a music director of LA Phil.

  • Caravaggio says:

    LA can keep him. The Otellos he has been “conducting” at the Met leave a lot to be desired. The cast is also underwhelming.

    • Stuart says:

      I have only heard him live once, in LA with Mahler’s 9th. Quite fine. Not sure why you have conducting in quotes in your reply. I heard the Met Otello on Sirius, and though the conducting wasn’t the problem but a cast that was not up to the score’s demands.

    • Ms.Melody says:

      His Otello is much better than La Traviata, conducted by the new music director. As for the cast, it has been a long time since I heard anything truly inspiring or inspired from the Met. The quality has been declining for years and will continue to do so.
      Barely adequate singers are now called “great”.
      Last Saturday tenor in Otello just couldn’t sing. The orchestra drowned him intentionally at the end of every scene. This went o for hours and he got an ovation at the end. Musicians who played in Otello with Dudamel actually praised him.

    • Barry Guerrero says:

      The conductor doesn’t run up on stage to sing. Don’t blame an “underwhelming” cast on the conductor. Dudamel may not be enjoying himself all that much either. The Met (the building) is a disaster. The broadcasts consistently sound awful.

    • Gehry partners says:

      You are a dumb fuck who doesn’t recognize talent when you see it. You and that Borda chick are made for each other.

  • The View from America says:

    Oh, joy.

  • violafan says:

    Awesome!

  • Harrumph says:

    Please do an article on conductors’ hair. “The bigger the hair, the smaller the talent” just might have a case. Ever notice that most of the best conductors were bald?

  • Anon says:

    Should really be doing the walk of shame, given his dubious political connections and the amount of bullshit he talks.

  • buxtehude says:

    Why should anybody care about the walk of fame? Other than some of the honorees, perhaps, in their old age, hoping vainly to be remembered? Seriously.

  • Trahmput says:

    Dudamel is one of the great musical geniuses of our time. The naysayers are either jealous or are being contrarian for the sake of being edgy. Orchestras like the Berlin Phil would not have him conduct there regularly if he weren’t a great maestro. Good for him getting the star. It’s fun. You people need to lighten up…seriously…like smoke a joint or something and mellow out with your negativity. Maybe go to an LA Phil concert, smoke some of that delicious legal California weed, and stop being so damn critical of someone who has done so much for orchestral music.

  • GFluteLA says:

    I read somewhere that the person receiving the star has to sign the application. Upon acceptance by the board, the person has to pay an introductory fee and then pay an annual fee for maintenance. Not cheap, but I guest that for some people it is a worth ego boost. It seems it is for The Dude.

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