Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra at 50: is it time to throw brickbats or bouquets?
December 2009, in a hall in the infamous 23 de Enero (“23 January”) barrio high above Caracas, Venezuela. This can be a daunting part of town, especially with its intimate links to the 23 January 1958 revolution that ousted the dictator Marcos Pérez …