The relationship between the Venezuelan president and the LA Philharmonic’s Music Director takes another turn for the worse.

Venezuelan conductor and Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Gustavo Dudamel has described as “heartbreaking” the cancellation of his planned tour of the United States helming Venezuela’s National Youth Orchestra. “My dream to play with these wonderful young musicians cannot come true — this time,” Dudamel said on Twitter. The news comes hot on the heels of an escalating high-profile public spat between the conductor and President Maduro.

Dudamel is Venezuela’s highest profile classical musician and graduate of the famous El Sistema education programme. He also is Music Director of Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. For some years, the 36-year-old maestro – once a supporter of the current Venezuelan president – remained notoriously silent on the turbulent political situation in his homeland, drawing the ire of more vocal critics like pianist Gabriela Montero who regularly called upon him to denounce the regimes of Hugo Chávez and his anointed successor Nicolás Maduro.

^{In happier times. Dudamel with El Sistema founder maestro Abreu and President Maduro}

Dudamel eventually broke his...