Track Listing

1. Sensemayá (Mexico)
2. Margariteña (Venezuela)
3. Mediodía en el Llano (Venezuela)
4. Danzón no. 2 (Mexico)
5. Fuga con Pajarillo (Venezuela)
6. 1. Los trabajadores agrícolas
7. 2. Danza del trigo
8. 3. Los peones de hacienda
9. 4. Danza final (Malambo)
10. Santa Cruz de Pacairigua (Venezuela)
11. Mambo Symphonic Dance from "West Side Story"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4114 in Music
• Brand: DUDAMEL,GUSTAVO
• Released on: 2008-07-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Album Description
Recorded live at the Centro de Acción Social por la Música, Sala Simón Bolívar, January 2008. An album everyone has been waiting for! Gustavo Dudamel and the SBYOV have stunned audiences worldwide with their explosive Latin-American showpieces. Now they deliver this repertoire on record, from a searing live concert in Caracas earlier this year. No other conductor or orchestra in the world could deliver a recording like this. Passion and excitement are guaranteed! "It's all about dance, about rhythm," says Dudamel, and his orchestra responds in kind, swaying and bending to the music, conveying utter joy and excitement in the music of their Southern hemisphere. The recording juxtaposes contrasting showpieces such as the Stravinsky-esque rhythmic drive of Revueltas's Sensemaya, the expansive lusciousness of Danzón no. 2 by Arturo Marquez and the vibrant ballet suite Estancia by Ginastera. The concert concludes with a sizzling performance of Mambo from Bernstein's West Side Story. The dynamic cover art displays the moment when the musicians are revealed dressed in their national colors - now a well known signature of the SBYOV, as is the blistering energy and exuberance with which they perform these pieces.

Amazon.com
Gustavo Dudamel, the still-not-30 Venezuelan conductor is living up to his hype. After a couple of remarkably successful recordings of music by Mahler and Beethoven, he and his Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela now turn their attention to music of Latin America (with a bow to Leonard Bernstein’s Mambo from West Side Story) and the result is absolutely joyful. The emphasis, as you might guess, is on dance and rhythm, although there are some introspective moments as well. Revueltas' angular, somewhat sinister "Sensemayá" fascinates, while Estevez' "Mediodia en el Liano" is like a poem to Venezuelan nature. "Danzon no. 2" begins in a relaxed, reflective manner, but composer Arturo Marquez surprises with growing, passionate dance rhythms. This isn’t a "dance party" CD, it's a collection of infectious, exciting, energetic pieces that happen to be dances as well. Dudamel’s SBYO obviously love this music and offer it up in sizzling performances. Some of this music was written for festivals, and you can feel the enthusiasm. Bernstein's "Mambo," will, in fact, make you want to mambo – you can practically see the orchestra members dancing. In short, this recording is unique and vastly entertaining. -- Robert Levine

Concert review, Carnegie Hall, New Yorker
"The stomping rhythms coming off the stage and up from the floor had such potency that it felt distinctly strange to be sitting motionless in a concert hall: we should have been dancing.

Customer Reviews

Fabulous Music
Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela are in their element with this selection of Latin American music. Senemaya and the dances from Estancia are familiar but the remaining tracks (Leonard Bernstein excepted) were by composers entirely new to me.

Sensemaya was based on a poem called Chant to Kill a Snake and was given an archaic feel by Silvestre Revueltas that sounds quite ominous and is magnificently performed by the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra. Margeritena by Inocente Carreno is a majestic piece based on Venezuelan popular songs, and while it may be European in his orchestration Carreno is magnificent in expressing his love of his homeland. I had the feeling that I was given a musical tour of Venezuela. Antonio Estevez's Mediodia en el Liano is a more reflective and elegiac work that describes the grasslands of Venezuela. Originally, this short work was part of a larger suite but the other movements were cut by the composer. Mediodia en el Liano is a very colorful piece that has the feel of awe inspired by the broad landscape.

Danzon No. 2 by Arturo Marquez is a very popular work and is considered Mexico's second national anthem. The music begins quietly and slowly builds across the orchestra as the tempo switches to a dance rhythm. Fuca con Pajarillo by Aldemaro Romero is a tuneful work based on the Venezuelan dance pajarillo. In this piece the dance melody is worked into a fugue with contracting melodies.

The dances from Estancia are played with true passion and certainly challenge the recordings I currently have of the music. Santa Cruz de Pacairigua by Evencio Castellanos is inspired by the festival of the same name that is characterized by parties with a great deal of drinking and dancing. The composer was a collector of Venezuelan folk music and this work show its influence. The final work, Mambo, by Leonard Bernstein is played with true abandon by the orchestra.

This is a marvelous disc that was certainly one of discovery for me and I come away from it wanting to hear more. This is one that is not to be missed if you are interested in Gustavo Dudamel.

Just so exciting!
Well, we all know the review process is flawed--the one-star review is just heinous, but it will disappear. This CD is magical. I am as non-Latina as they come, but I can't play this (at work) without swaying/dancing in my seat. People stop at my office door and smile--it is that contagious. I agree with other reviewers: Dudamel is a buoyant talent, the real thing, and I for one am thrilled to be around to watch him mature and dazzle. I live in New York where I've seen him twice, but would fly to LA to see him at work again--kudos to them for hiring this extraordinary young man. Please buy this CD--so highly recommended. Absolutely brilliant.

The best conductor since Leonard Bernstein
The person who rated this CD as a 1 star, should be ashame of himself. Is the most absurd comment I'd ever heard. And I feel is my duty to report to the public that this opinion is absolutely WRONG. Gustavo Dudamel is simply the hottest thing to hit classical music since Leonard Bernstein. But in the world of music, why talk? Better to look, and listen. Obviously, this reviewer is in desperate need of learning what the best music is. Hands down, the best CD I own.