On the evening of June 13, at their concert in Stockholm, Sweden, the “Simón Bolívar” Youth Orchestra of Venezuela repeated the scene experienced in Oslo, Norway, just one day before. With a full house, the public at the two capitals of the Nobel Prize stood up before the concert to applaud maestro José Antonio Abreu. The reasons abound: Sweden has given two of its most important awards to Abreu for the creation of the System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela. The fist time was in 2001 with the Alternate Nobel, and the second time was last year with the Polar Prize.

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“Simón Bolívar” Youth Orchestra and Dudamel. 13-06-2010. Konserthus. Stockholm, Sweden.
Photo: Fesnojiv

The expectation of the Venezuelans’ last concert, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel in Sweden, was enormous. The 1,758 seats available at the Konserthus of Stockholm sold out. “We were anxious to have them here. We have wanted to see and hear this orchestra for a long time, and it is finally happening”, said Stephan Forsberg, Artistic Director of the venue, formally presenting the musicians before the audience, which replied with applause.

Minutes later, Gustavo Dudamel entered and confirmed what some in Gothenburg had advised a few days before: the Venezuelan conductor is loved all over Sweden, and not only in Gothenburg where he is a featured conductor.

When he took the baton, the first seven notes of a French horn were heard solo, and for a few minutes Stockholm became Venezuelan ground. The “Simón Bolívar” Youth Orchestra of Venezuela played Margariteña (Symphonic Variations) by the Venezuelan composer Inocente Carreño, who turned 90 years old last December. The piece, inspired in the song Margarita, is a generous tear in poetry, at times capable to reproduce the surf of the sea and the colorful strikes of the eastern sunsets in Venezuela. The Swedish audience fell into a state of meditation. But their enthusiasm grew with the Dances of La Estancia Ballet by the Argentine Alberto Ginastera.

After the intermediate, Dudamel conducted one of the iconic works of last century’s vanguard in the arts: Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky. The audience wanted a repeat, and then another, and wished for a third one.

“These youth are changing the landscape of academic music. The world has much to learn from this Venezuelan system”, said Sweden’s Department of Culture representative, Leif Pagrotsky.

Translated by Rolando Betancourt