Hype over the Los Angeles Philharmonic's dashing new conductor is unprecedented. Can Gustavo Dudamel bring Mozart to the masses?
LOS ANGELES -- All over town, electronic billboards flash: "Bienvenido Gustavo," "Pasión Gustavo," "Radiante Gustavo" and "Bravo Gustavo!"
Each one shows the Los Angeles Philharmonic's new podium chief, Gustavo Dudamel, in a different state of exultation -- eyes clenched shut, head thrown back, mouth open in a smile of ecstasy, black curls spilling waywardly around his face, arms wide.
The hype for the 28-year-old Venezuelan is of Hollywood proportions. Part of this is that nearly half of the nine million residents of Los Angeles County can speak or understand Spanish -- the main thoroughfares, of course, are Figueroa, La Cienega, Sepulveda.
Each one shows the Los Angeles Philharmonic's new podium chief, Gustavo Dudamel, in a different state of exultation -- eyes clenched shut, head thrown back, mouth open in a smile of ecstasy, black curls spilling waywardly around his face, arms wide.
The hype for the 28-year-old Venezuelan is of Hollywood proportions. Part of this is that nearly half of the nine million residents of Los Angeles County can speak or understand Spanish -- the main thoroughfares, of course, are Figueroa, La Cienega, Sepulveda.
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