180-gram vinyl pressing

Gustavo Dudamel is one of those extremely rare conductors to draw international attention while still in his twenties. For a musician who only began studying conducting in 1995 and made his professional debut in 2005, he has ascended the steep ladder to podium renown in almost unprecedented fashion.

Here is Dudamel's official debut concert with the Vienna Philharmonic, recorded at the Musikverein in December 2011, the first recording of a Vienna Philharmonic performance in more than two decades. The fiery young Venezuelan's choice of Mendelssohn for this career milestone — an early German Romantic associated more with England than Austria — might have seemed surprising, but its wisdom is confirmed by this live recording. Vienna's Kurier called the occasion "absolutely flawless . . . Gustavo Dudamel approached the music with the right balance between precision and necessary freedom for the players."

Although he had conducted the Vienna Philharmonic before, this record documents Gustavo Dudamel's official entry into that charmed circle of maestros selected by the musicians themselves for their exclusive series of subscription concerts.

Published and numbered third, the "Scottish" was actually the last of Mendelssohn's five mature symphonies, completed in 1842. Its inspiration, however, goes back to summer 1829 and the composer's first visit to Britain and Scottland. In Edinburgh he attended a gathering of Highland pipers and visited Holyrood, writing home on July 30: "In darkening twilight today, we went to the Palace [of Holyrood] where Queen Mary lived and loved. There is a little room to be seen there with a spiral staircase at its door. That is where they went up and found Rizzio in the room, dragged him out, and three chambers away there is a dark corner where they murdered him. The chapel beside it has lost its roof and is overgrown with grass and ivy, and at that broken altar Mary was crowned Queen of Scotland. Everything there is ruined, decayed and open to the clear sky. I believe that I have found there today the beginning of my Scottish Symphony."

Proceeds from the sale of this exclusive vinyl release will fund the purchase of new instruments for Nucleo San Vincente, part of Venezuela's music education program.

Track Listing
Andante con moto - Allegro un poco agitato - Assai animato - Andante come prima
Vivace non troppo
Adagio
Allegro Vivacissimo – Allegro Maestoso Assai