Crossroads AT A
a “babe in the woods when it came to contemporary repertoire.”
“Then he discovered he liked it,” Adams said. “And now he's not only a wonderful interpreter, but just a wonderful champion.”
As part of his focus on new music, Dudamel has sought to elevate composers from Latin America, often lamenting that the region's composers are barely known compared with its writers and visual artists.
Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz said Dudamel had been crucial in promoting her music, adding that it could be difficult for female composers from Latin America to gain recognition. She recalled a 2017 concert at which he featured one of her compositions before a performance by Mexican pop singer Natalia Lafourcade, greatly expanding the audience for her music.
“He's an extremely generous person,” she said. “I've never felt I was with this infamous conductor where always there is some huge distance. I've always felt very, very close.”
In 2021, Dudamel became the music director of the Paris Opera, looking to expand his repertory and build more ties to Europe, where he has been a welcome guest at prestigious orchestras, including the Berlin and Vienna philharmonics. (His wife, Spanish actress and filmmaker María Valverde, is from Madrid, and the couple maintain a home there.)
Dudamel's ties to Venezuelan leaders, whose support was vital for El Sistema, have drawn scrutiny. He conducted at the funeral of President Hugo Chávez, and for years he resisted criticizing the government, even as a series of social and economic crises worsened in the country.
In “¡Viva Maestro!,” a documentary about Dudamel released last year, he spoke about the pressure he faced, not wanting to harm El Sistema. “I'm a leader of a program,” he said. “It's not Gustavo only. It's thousands of children, millions of young people.”
After a young El Sistema-trained viola player was killed during a street protest in 2017, Dudamel decided to speak out. “It was very difficult to see my people fighting, to see my people suffering and getting to a very violent moment,” he explained in the documentary.
He issued a statement that said “enough is enough” and wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times, criticizing a government plan to rewrite the constitution. President Nicolás Maduro responded by canceling overseas tours by Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, which he has led since 1999. Many players in that group, which had been a source of national pride, left the country. And Dudamel, who had last visited Venezuela in 2017, felt unable to return, even for the funeral of Abreu, his mentor, who died the following year. Instead he arranged a memorial concert in Santiago, Chile.
Dudamel finally returned to Venezuela a few months ago, shortly after touring with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Boston, New York and Mexico.
As he pondered his next steps, he went to Barquisimeto to reconnect with what he described as “the genesis of my life as a musician.” He caught up with friends and family. He met with students and teachers in El Sistema. And he visited Abreu's home, sitting in his studio and looking through his books.
Dudamel said his teacher, whom he calls “maestro” and speaks of as a father, remained “in my soul and in my brain.” He contemplated what Abreu would have made of his move to New York.
“I was part of a vision — of his vision,” he said. “He saw me when I was a 9-yearold boy in Barquisimeto. I think he saw this. He saw me being in New York with the New York Philharmonic. I'm sure of that.”
He added: “I can see him. I can feel him. And I believe he is happy. He's very happy.”