Sunday 17 August 2008

Charlotte Higgins: Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel brings a 2500-strong audience to its feet

In the polite world of British classical music, a standing ovation - indeed any show of emotion - is rare. And as audiences go, that of Edinburgh's Usher Hall sits on the restrained end of the spectrum. But all that was thrown to the winds on Tuesday, when 27-year-old Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel lED the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in a programme of Copland, Ravel and Berlioz, on a tour that also took the orchestra to the Proms