Arms soaring, curls flopping, baton flashing, the celebrated conductor Gustavo Dudamel commanded the stage for around 90 minutes on Tuesday night inside David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center for the New York Philharmonic’s annual spring gala.
“For me, it’s an honor, it’s a privilege, it’s a pleasure,” he said in the hall’s Grand Promenade after the concert, where he was immediately mobbed by well-wishers. “This is an amazing orchestra, an amazing institution, an amazing city.”
The sentiment has been a familiar refrain in the years since Dudamel, 45, was first announced as the Philharmonic’s next music leader in 2023, but his tenure is finally approaching: In the fall, after three years of guest-conducting a few concerts while leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he will officially take over as the orchestra’s music and artistic director.
The audience at David Geffen Hall couldn’t hide its excitement.
“He can have as many welcome parties as they can squeeze in,” said Jamie Bernstein, the daughter of the conductor Leonard Bernstein, as she sipped a martini before the performance.
That summed up the mood of the evening, which began with a cocktail reception in the hall’s Grand Promenade. A crowd that included the Grammy Award-winning violinist Itzhak Perlman, the composer and vocalist Eartheater, and the experimental R&B musician Serpentwithfeet snacked on duck sliders, quail deviled eggs and mini lobster rolls.
Just before 7 p.m., guests filed into the 2,200-seat hall for the concert, which was the pianist Evgeny Kissin’s first appearance with the orchestra in 10 years. The program included work by three Russian composers: Modest Mussorgsky’s overture and “Dance of the Persian Slaves” from his opera “Khovanshchina,” Alexander Scriabin’s Piano Concerto and Igor Stravinsky’s suite “The Firebird.”
The night raised $3 million for the orchestra, according to a spokeswoman. It honored the philanthropist Barbara Tober and her deceased husband, Donald Tober, an artificial-sweetener executive who made Sweet’N Low a household name.
After the performance, finally free — for the moment — from greeting a crowd of effusive fans, Dudamel sat down to a dinner of Parmesan chicken and roasted fingerling potatoes.
But there was another stop in the city on Dudamel’s mind.
“There’s an amazing Venezuelan restaurant in Brooklyn called Casa Ora,” said Dudamel, who grew up in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. “I can’t wait to go back soon.”
