A 29-year-old firecracker conducts Berlin's elite orchestra into a Latin fever dream.
Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel is given the special honour of presiding over the Berliner Philharmoniker's New Year's Eve Gala Concert in 2010 – a role typically reserved for the orchestra's Chief Conductor. Together with the mezzo soprano Elīna Garanča he and the orchestra present an enthralling concert which takes on an increasingly Spanish and Latin American flavour as it progresses. The programme includes works by Berlioz and Saint-Saëns to Bizet and de Falla, with Garanča showcasing operatic roles that she has made her own.
Direction
Dudamel's hair has its own choreography.
Acting
Garanča's voice could melt the Brandenburg Gate.
Production
Berlin's golden hall never looked thirstier.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Dudamel was 29 here—making him the youngest conductor ever invited to lead this prestigious gala, normally reserved for the orchestra's chief conductor.
This concert symbolized classical music's 'Dudamel effect'—a Venezuelan prodigy from El Sistema cracking Europe's most elite institutions wide open.
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