Breaking: Dudamel moves to New York Philharmonic
NewsIt has been announced in the last few minutes that Gustavo Dudamel will become music director of the NY Philharmonic, starting in 2026.
Dudamel, 42, will end his relationship at that time with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he will have served for 17 years.
It’s a smart move. He will be the first Latino to lead New York and he’s young enough to make a difference – especially after the stasis of the Jaap Van Zweden years.
The LA Phil is hoping to have him back as a guest conductor ‘for years to come’.
Gustavo Dudamel said: “Today, above all, I am grateful. I am grateful to the musicians and leadership of the New York Philharmonic as we embark upon this new and beautiful journey together; to my beloved family at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and YOLA for helping me to learn and grow through countless challenges and triumphs; and to my Maestro Abreu and the musicians of Venezuela who have been there with me since the beginning. As the great poet Federico García Lorca said: ‘Every step we take on earth brings us to a new world.’ I gaze with joy and excitement at the world that lies before me in New York City, and with pride and love at the world I have shared — and will continue to share — with my dear Angelenos over the next three seasons and beyond. All of us are united in our belief that culture creates a better world,
and in our dream that music is a fundamental right. I look forward to the work ahead.”
It’s a total coup for Deborah Borda, her last executive act before stepping down as president. The bond between her and Dudamel, forged in LA, is rock-solid.
Dudamel will remain music director of the Opera de Paris and will maintain his main residence in Barcelona.
Inside track: Why it had to be Dudamel
New hall, new (superb) maestro. Is this the time for the New York Phil to finally take its rightful place in The Big Five?
Word was LA were unhappy. News at Ten. Orchestral musicians turn against boss after a starry honeymoon.
Musicians!
Mirga, now’s the time. Your old stomping grounds, they love you there (I experienced it last year), it’s warm, the orchestra is crackerjack but can improve, and your two kidlets can go to the best schools.
Um…the NY Philharmonic has always had ‘…its rightful place among the Big Five.’ It’s just that after Mehta, Masur and Maazel, the lustre has dulled a bit.
You’re not a musician, are you?
Have to get back in the big ten, first. LA, San Fran, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Minnesota, all stand in the way. Or not? Discuss. New York always sounds under rehearsed to me.
Do you regularly hear those orchestras in their respective cities? Or do you only hear them in NY in Carnegie playing a well-rehearsed touring program which they already performed several times in their home city and other cities?
Therein lies the answer.
The longer the NY Phil musicians have a hall in which they can hear each other (as they finally do), the better they’ll get, week in and week out.
Migra is lovely but not in the same universe as him. And, no, I’m not going to write a single word about gendre dynamics that helped her to get to the height she is currently on.
Should be a good fit for all. Big congrats to Maestro Dudamel, who has given me many wonderful concert nights over the years.
Dang. Was hoping the CSO could get him.
I think everyone in Chicago was, since CSO slacked on getting Mäkelä or E.P.S.
The CSO will get Thielemann. They’ll look into Makela in 30 years, once he’s grown up.
A bit of a surprise, given the speculation that the next music director would be a woman. Is Dudamel’s title Music and Artistic Director meant to mirror that same title conferred on Yannick Nézet-Séguin?
It’s the same title he already has in LA.
Seems like we often hear that “the next music director will be a woman.” Then reality sets in and orchestras hire usual male suspects—most recently Lahav Shani and Gustavo Dudamel.
I look forward to the day when the conductor’s gender will matter as much as of the soloist. Does anyone ask, say, Marta Argerich, what it means to have her stature and be a woman?
Interestingly, period ensembles seem to have moved on already. Does the wonderful Emmanuelle Haim have to discuss her work in the context of her gender?
She probably does, at least occasionally, when she guest-conducts conventional symphony orchestras.
In the Baroque music world, no.
But then, in the Baroque music world, most of the leading conductors of any gender are leading ensembles they founded rather than trying to convince a risk-averse board of directors to hire them.
Excellent points, thanks.
We need a transsexual conductor. It’s very important.
As SOON as possible Yaaasss !!
With XX or with XY chromosomes? Please elaborate.
And why only conductors? What about transsexual cab drivers? Also very important!
How marvellous!
This could get interesting.
I like to be in America.
North America.
This is a good choice. Personally I was hoping it would be Ms. Malkki but Dudamel – if he’s careful – should be just OK.
1) Wrong New York orchestram Dudamel should’ve gone with the New York Youth Symphony, the Grammy winning orchestra.
2) Dudamel’s impact on NY will be exactly like his impact on Paris: not a thing.
3) Dudamel’s and the Philharmonic’s main competitor is Nezet-Seguin and the Philadelphia, which has basically moved into Carnegie Hall.
Have you seen a concert or an opera of Dudamel in Paris?
Years ago he replaced Jarvi at the Proms for Sibelius 5; it was one of the worse things I have heard; nothing i have heard on cd or radio has made me want to attend another of his concerts.
We were supposed to get some Tubin that night; it would have been his first Proms performance and might just have sparked some interest, even if was the relatively lightweight and short Toccata, which frankly I could have conducted. Dudamel replaced it (I’d like to know why) with Valse Triste. No Tubin since at the Proms – and to add insult, the BBC Proms archive still shows it on the programme for that evening.
Is the NYP about to get relevant again?
Did anyone ever really doubt this outcome? The Philharmonic needed a star, gender notwithstanding, after years of pablum. There are only one or two star names out there. It’s not about ability, it is about ticket sales and contributions. Good for Ms. Borda.
It’s abt papa dinero in the us empire. Always. Being Latino can help
With money donations and folks lining up to see Latinos and diversities.
Wrong. He’s no Lin Manuel Miranda with deep ties to the local Latino community. Here Dudamel is regarded as more international and a publicity hound. Nothing to do with his musical ability, just his persona. He’ll do well; the orchestra is another question.
I take it Lydia Tar was unavailable?
She’s still cancelled. These days, scandal doesn’t pass so quickly.
With how LA Phil has evolved the last 20 years, moving to New York Phil arguably feels like a step down. Good luck to Dudamel on this new chapter and quest to breathe new life and much needed vitality into NYP.
No surprise, at all.
Kinda seen this change before… Another Zubin Mehta?
After the Boulez tenure, Mehta brought the NY Phil to the lowest possible standard.
Hopefully he will get a more responsive orchestra than what Mehta had to endure, one that gives him their full commitment. I wouldn’t hold my breath for that, though. NY is sort of a conductor’s graveyard as many have said. You better be a high voltage personality, ala Bernstein. Best luck to him. It’s a risky move.
Perfect fit.
‘Perfect fits, puttin’ on the ritz’
He will be a Bernstein for the 21st century. He makes great music accessible to all.
I guess hiring Dudamel is Deborah Borda’s One Weird Trick For Turning Your Orchestra Around.
(I don’t feel as cynical as maybe that sounds; I just didn’t expect her to go to NY and repeat her biggest act.)
“Turning around” wasn’t what the LA Phil needed after years of success with Salonen.
fair. I don’t necessarily mean as in “righting the ship,” which LA had no need of, but for going in a new direction–is that more accurate?
In any case, my point stands: Borda did it twice. I was interested in seeing what else she might pull off.
He practically defines the word overrated.
How so?
I like to dislike the supposedly flashy, substanceless conductor, too. But not only is LA the most relevant American orchestra, Dudamel regularly appears with two orchestras whose members have no obligation to engage someone they don’t hold in high regard: Berlin and Vienna.
Malkki up next in LA?
The allure of NY is no longer there. Sedate crowd, same old repertory…
You haven’t actually looked at their programming have you-far more adventurous over the years than Phil O, CSO, BSO-that doesn’t make it wild and crazy but hardly the same old repertory.
It is still, however, the media capital of the US, where you have the greatest chance to leverage your talent if you seek worldwide recognition. Not that LA isn’t good for that also, but you can’t match NY for getting attention. And he probably feels he can get more out of the orchestra.
Will the Capital of Shark Capitalism give a thought to where Dudamel comes from and the system without which he would not exist?
No. The USers care about dinero that’s all. Bring donors in and keep the huge administrative sale ties afloat.
He does what Zubin did. NY after LA. For the Zubin the best was without doubts in LA concerning the records. I think Dudamel is right to don’t stay too much longer in the same place. that confirms also that Dudamel is happy to be in Paris when is coming. I wonder if he did a show in the new NY hall during the last months
Dudamel really should get over Abreu. The guy was a phony who made bogus claims including that he had degrees which he didn’t, he loved dictators and he ran an organization that was rife with abuse, sexual and otherwise. I’m glad Dudamel had a good experience but the people I know who went through El Systema paint really dark portrait. It’s makes a great story for a 60 Minutes segment but unfortunately it’s not the truth and maybe Dudamel should stop promoting that myth.
Abreu personally taught and backed Dudamel. Without Abreu, Dudamel might never have left Barquisimeto. Whatever the problems with El Sistema, Dudamel owes a great deal personally to Abreu, so don’t be surprised that Dudamel continues to thank him.
You’re probably right, MWnyc. It’s not surprising he doesn’t break from Abreu since he’s remained cozy with the Venezuelan dictators who have caused so much suffering in that country. Dudamel is one of the most famous Venezuelan expats but he remains silent. After all he’s doing ok
My guess is he didn’t get abused so just let children continue to to be raped since….he’s doing ok.
People can argue about his merits as a musician but as a man there is no argument. He’s no Rostropovich.
He was probably abused in some way. I think that his absent father may be the reason for him to have been an easy prey.to some people like Abreu.
Also, I doubt that he ever taught general culture to any student, ever.
Quite. Dudamel does a good nice-guy act, but the fact that he hero-worships such a terrible man says a lot more about him.
I hope that you can mention some more (sad) facts about Abreu. Some people have said that he was NOT a DECENT human being, but stop there…
I wonder what happened to Wuilly Arteaga…he was famous for a time and then, all of a sudden, NOBODY knows anything about him
WHAT happened to him ??
In May 2019, within the space of 48 hours, David Geffen Hall hosted the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck in Mahler 5, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Dudamel in Bruckner 4. The former was among the finest live performances I’ve ever heard, the latter meandered from raw, overdriven, fortissimo to the next outburst, without communicating any structure or feeling. Deborah Borda’s gifts to New York consist of a glittery-looking concert hall with mediocre acoustics, and a shallow, easily promotable (at least initially) music director. I’ve come to the conclusion that in the new Geffen Lincoln Center got the perfect setting for the woke image the management wants to convey, and if the Philharmonic got a passable home in the bargain that would be OK.
Drink some more haterade why don’t you
Hopefully, the management in LA will be looking at a replacement who is actually a great conductor, can elevate the level of the orchestra, and that the musicians would actually like playing for. In other words, look at conductors like Klaus Makela rather than just going for the easy “progressive choice” like Susanna Malkki. I attend LA Phil concerts regularly, and the orchestra never sounds as bad as when she is on the podium. But I imagine it will most likely be she who gets the spot. With that board and that management they will not be going for “who is the conductor who can elevate the playing of the orchestra to a higher level” and will instead be asking, “which hire will Alex Ross be most likely to pat us on the back about in the New Yorker?” And hey, who can blame them? Most audiences can’t tell the difference, and you gotta keep the lights on!
Whoever they choose, LA very systematically surveys the orchestra on how they like every guest conductor they work with, and that will always be a factor. Also, not too many folks in LA read the New Yorker or worry what it might say about our conductor in the least. They will go for the best talent as they see it, period. And yes, we will be very aware of that talent. You must have us confused with some other city.
HACK. Pefect for a NYC organization.