Gustavo Dudamel

THE CONDUCTOR

GUSTAVO DUDAMEL

Conductor, L.A. Philharmonic

photographed by SLAVA MOGUTIN at WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL

WE ARE IN a city that’s been blessed with brilliant conductors: Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, André Previn, Otto Klemperer, John Williams. But to watch the L.A. Phil’s current master, Gustavo Dudamel—of the moppy curls and passionate manner—perform Beethoven, Dvořák, Wagner, Mahler, Gershwin, Ravel, and the many new pieces he commissions from South American composers, is to watch a genius at work. That you’re as likely to run into him at an In-NOut as at one of the two beautiful venues he calls home—the Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall—gives him an everyman appeal that transcends classical music cliques. Once on the podium, he conducts the acclaimed 103-year-orchestra with his entire being, seeming to levitate briefly before landing lightly on his feet. Sheer joy. —H.S.C.