In 1978 the “Simón Bolívar” Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, the top of the System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela, premiered Tchaikovsky’s Symphony nº 4. At that moment they started a dream that came true last night: the Venezuelan orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, came to Moscow, Russia, for the first time, to play the same piece no more or less than at the very Tchaikovsky Concert Hall.

The Russian audience were a great challenge as they are used to listening to this piece performed by the best orchestras and conductors in the  world, and to see the best artists on this stage. The Venezuelans did what they do best: they played the piece by possessing it, with both a flawless technique and an indescribable passion seducing the almost 1,200 attendants, that gave the 150 musicians a standing ovation for 15 minutes. Tomorrow they will play their last concert in Moscow to advance, the following day, to Warsaw, Poland, with the composer Krzysztof Penderecki awaiting them.

Music historians say that Tchaikovsky composed his Symphony nº 4 to dedicate it to a woman whom he was madly in love with, but could only have a fleeting romance. Last night, the Venezuelans read those letters given to the world through music.

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A Tchaikovsky  with a Venezuelan Seal Seduced Moscow.

Maestro José Antonio Abreu taught me to conduct this piece and all the music that I actually conduct. He made us carry Tchaikovsky in our blood. We take this piece in our souls and that is how we play it. It is an honor for us to play this piece here after playing it for many years, and not only for us but also for our teachers, because they have paved the way for us. This makes the emotional charge quite a commitment with the fact of making music and with El Sistema", said the conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

The “Simón Bolívar” Youth Orchestra of Venezuela also performed Margariteña (Symphonic Variations) by Inocente Carreño, perhaps the best homage that the young Venezuelans can pay to a composer that turned 90 years old last December, with a piece that they do not get tired of praising.

They also played Dances of La Estancia Ballet by the Argentine Ginastera.

"We bring Latin-American music to every stage we go because it belongs to us all. We also bring music born in Russia and Germany to every stage we go, because it also belongs to us as part of a universal repertoire", said Dudamel.