Fiesta (2008)

Since bursting onto the international scene by winning the 2004 Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition at the age of 23, Gustavo Dudamel has gone on to a major career, including an appointment as principal conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, beginning in 2009. In his third release for Deutsche Grammophon, he leads Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela in a program of Latin American music, plus Leonard Bernstein's Latin-inspired "Mambo" from West Side Story. The collection includes several classic works, like ... Read More

Since bursting onto the international scene by winning the 2004 Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition at the age of 23, Gustavo Dudamel has gone on to a major career, including an appointment as principal conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, beginning in 2009. In his third release for Deutsche Grammophon, he leads Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela in a program of Latin American music, plus Leonard Bernstein's Latin-inspired "Mambo" from West Side Story. The collection includes several classic works, like Revueltas' Sensemayá and Ginastera's dances from the ballet Estancia. Revueltas' darkly primal wildness and Ginastera's sophisticated application of European harmonies to his earthy folk-like themes make their works the most sophisticated and musically substantial on the album. Evencio Castellanos' Santa Cruz de Pacairigua is clearly indebted to Ginastera in its rhythmic and harmonic complexity, but it's an attractive piece that's full of surprises. Arturo Márquez's elegant Danzón No. 2,... Read Less