Dudamel pulls a selfie
mainThe Qobuz site is pre-selling a premier Wagner release by the Dude and his Bolivar orch, out at the end of Jan and listenable here.
The conductor has made no secret of his frustration at the constraints of his DG contract, which allows just two or three releases a year. As a curio, this selfie might do quite well.
How much experience does Dudamel have conducting Wagner at the pit?
While I know that Dudamel has conducted in opera houses and has conducted opera before, I’ve only see him do it on the stage. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him in an orchestra pit.
I’ve heard him conduct some Wagner excerpts and some overtures and they weren’t bad. Interestingly, at a press conference in 2009 he said he didn’t feel ready to conduct Wagner and thought he might start doing so in “5 or 6 years”.
Well it’s been about that so we shall see…
Due to the lamentable human rights situation in Venezuela and Dudamel’s complete silence in its regard, I’m not listening to anything produced by either him or his orchestra. This is the bare minimum that anyone with a moral conscience can do.
I just auditioned the iTunes release of Dudamel’s Wagner program, and it’s awful! There is no weight to the tone of brass or winds, the strings sound well together but too bright. The recording itself is very bright which would be wonderful if there were anything substantial to illuminate. Dudamel takes what I would call a “safe” middle of road interpretive stance, which is frankly boring.
I love Gustavo and his merry Bolívar bands, but this release is a travesty and should be withdrawn from the lists as soon as possible, in favor of waiting for a more propitious time to record the same literature. Every great conductor has at least one or two bombs on h(er)is record, some conductors have many yet also many great recordings and concerts. This release blows itself up.