Gustavo Dudamel, a name to look out for

Gill and went to see the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra last night. It being Burns Night they played Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony and before that there was Chavez' Sinfonia India and Lalo's Symphonie Espagnol. We really enjoyed the Chavez (not that we knew it) and taht was helped by taking in the pre-concert talk about it. The Lalo is a bit of an old warhorse but it got a spirited performance from a fine French violinist, who is also a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. The Mendelssohn was quite a revelation - a fiery performance with lots of passion and power. Not at all like the insipid, pretty Mendelssohn we can often get. The conductor was a 24 (yes 24) - year old Venezuelan called Gustavo Dudamel. we'd never heard of him, but apparently he's the "next big thing" and I can quite believe it. He put his heart and soul into it, sending the baton flying into the stalls mid-way through the scherzo.

Very impressive. We treated ourselves to dinner in an upscale restaurant afterwards and he, his wife and some orchestra "suits" sat at the next table. A name to look out for...