And now, a brief musical interlude

Wonder what's in store at Disney Hall when Esa-Pekka leaves the building? Check out this video of Gustavo Dudamel, or as expat (and perpetually homesick) LA native David Kipen likes to call him, Der Meisterdude.

It's a snippet of a concert last month at Albert Hall, where Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela rocked the house. Here's a review of the event, after which ecstatic Brits (hush) kept the ensemble on stage for 30 minutes of encores.

At its conclusion, a packed Albert Hall rose as one, shouting their great approval, calling the conductor back time and time again, demanding half an hour's worth of encores and delaying my bedtime further.

It was a justifiably ecstatic reaction to an extraordinary concert: one that will remain imprinted on the cranium.

And here's Gustavo's home page, for all things Meisterdude.