Gustavo Dudamel

It's not unusual for a global city to recruit an international talent like Gustavo Dudamel to conduct its symphony orchestra. (Alan Gilbert, the new conductor of the New York Philharmonic, is the first native New Yorker to hold the post since the institution was founded in 1842.) What is unusual is how the Los Angeles orchestra is using the high-culture, Venezuelan-born wunderkind to build a rapport with this city's native-born Latino masses. Gauging from the widespread, deliriously upbeat hoopla -- and taking into account Dudamel's exceptional qualities and charisma -- maybe it'll even work.

"All this -- it's a lot of fun," maestro Gustavo Dudamel said Thursday night at the inaugural gala for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, regarding all the hoopla surrounding his arrival. It wasn't just Saturday's free concert at the Hollywood Bowl, his picture on city buses and the free Bravo Gustavo app for iPhone users. The pieces of confetti that rained down on concertgoers following the event at Walt Disney Concert Hall had his name printed on them in boldface capital letters.

Two years ago, when designer Angel Sanchez met Eloísa Maturén backstage at Carnegie Hall, where her conductor husband, Gustavo Dudamel, was performing, his first thought was, "I would love to dress her!" Sanchez and the petite former ballerina quickly formed a designer-muse relationship in which both are inspired by their Venezuelan roots and love of bold color. For her husband's inaugural concert with the L.A. Philharmonic as its music director this Thursday, the 29-year-old Maturén commissioned Sanchez to create a memorable dress.

When Gustavo Dudamel was 3, it was clear to his family that the youngster was all about music -- to the chagrin of some members of his family. As the 28-year-old joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic this week as its music director, the Spanish-language newspaper Hoy is showcasing photos of the young Gustavo and a conversation with family and friends about his formative years in Venezuela. Here are translated excerpts from Doria Barrios' story, from her interviews in Caracas. -- It was 1978.

Eléctrico Gustavo, writ large on the back of buses, appears to be the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's newest source of renewable energy. Radiante Gustavo flashing on electric billboards luridly illumines the Southern California sky in competition with Nature and Her sunsets. Pasión Gustavo, in giant letters on Walt Disney Concert Hall, stirs Frank Gehry's steel. As for me, I'm preparing for the arrival this week of Gustavo Dudamel by charging my pocket Nikon.

With a wide array of accents and a distinctively L.A. feel, a rainbow coalition of musical acts and a fired-up Hollywood Bowl crowd welcomed Gustavo Dudamel on Saturday night to his new position as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The 28-year-old conductor, who arrived in town earlier this week, was naturally the piece de resistance of the five-hour free concert, dubbed "¡Bienvenido Gustavo!" in his honor. He concluded the evening in rousing fashion, conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Master Chorale in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. After taking his initial bow at the end of the symphony, Dudamel locked arms with his musicians and soloists to acknowledge the waves of applause.

On his first official day of rehearsal with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, amid an enthusiastic welcome from musicians and unprecedented media fanfare, Gustavo Dudamel wanted to make one thing perfectly clear: He's ready to get down to business. At 28, Dudamel is carrying the weight of his new title -- the L.A. Phil's music director -- as well as great expectations from the classical music world on his shoulders. But speaking Wednesday at a news conference at his new home, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Dudamel rejected frequent media speculation that the formidable demands of the prestigious post could prove too much for him. The Venezuelan conductor calls his English "terrible," but he had no problem putting his thoughts on this matter into words: "No -- really, no ," he said in answer to the question following the day's rehearsals.

The 11-year-old girl walked across the imposing stage in patent leather ballet flats; her eyes squinting in the glare of the overhead lights. Arlette Romero took a deep breath. She sat up straight in rest position, her right hand firmly gripping the neck of her violin, and flashed a smile. It was finally showtime. Romero is a member of the nascent YOLA Expo Center Youth Orchestra. She and her orchestra mates were making their debut at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday night, performing an abbreviated version of "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel during the "¡Bienvenido Gustavo!"

Alfred WALLENSTEIN (cello), Eduard van Beinum (violin), Zubin Mehta (bass), Carlo Maria Giulini (viola), Andre Previn (piano), Esa-Pekka Salonen (horn), Gustavo Dudamel (violin). These are the Los Angeles Philharmonic music directors since 1943 and their instruments. Previn is a famed soloist who played chamber music with the musicians. For the rest, the baton pretty much replaced horsehair and mouthpiece as their appliance for producing sound.

In some respects, D-day at Walt Disney Concert Hall resembled many another Friday night concert by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. A young man conducted. Another young man played the piano. The hall was full, and listeners sat respectfully through the program, saving their gusto for standing ovations. But the normalcy was only on the surface.