Detroit Symphony Orchestra - New Era

[Steve]

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl ... /804040414

First look at Slatkin era reveals bond with DSO
Lawrence B. Johnson / Special to The Detroit News
It was a promising preview, Leonard Slatkin's first concert with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as music director-designate.

Officially, Slatkin takes the DSO reins in September, but his appearance on the podium Thursday night left no doubt about a couple of things. First, when this imaginative and bold programmer finally settles in, it's going to be a heady new era at Orchestra Hall. And second (maybe first), Slatkin already has the musicians' confidence; even now the DSO sound reflects his musical temperament.

The core qualities of that define Slatkin- rhythmic precision, structural clarity, meticulous attention to detail together with a complete absence of fussiness - were all evident at once Thursday night in his opening flourish, a vibrant turn through Berlioz's "Roman Carnival" Overture.

At tempos that were brisk, but fluid rather than driven, Slatkin drew bright, keen-edged playing from all sections of the orchestra. Berlioz's digressions into reflective gentleness received as much care as the splashy, headlong bolts that give "Roman Carnival" its exhilarating appeal. It was great fun and a happy augury for the Slatkin era.

While the same virtues of tension, brilliance and transparency applied as well when Slatkin turned to Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 in A major ("Italian), the whole effect was less satisfying. Especially in the opening movement and the songful Andante that follows, one wished for greater warmth in Mendelssohn's open-hearted lyricism, music of pure and unshadowed poetry that Slatkin seemed content to buff and burnish rather than indulge. The really unmistakable sign that a new sheriff had arrived in town came in the concert's second half, with the theatrics of John Corigliano's 2005 Symphony No. 3 for large symphonic band, subtitled "Circus Maximus."

For this riotous ride, the DSO winds, brasses and percussion were augmented by members of the University of Michigan Symphony Band, and Corigliano was on hand to explain why listeners throughout the hall were sharing space with brass players while the stage also was heavily armored with instruments.

Corigliano said his piece was meant to compare our insatiable and impatient appetite for entertainment - not only 500 channels, but noisy amusement all around us - with the prodigious entertainments of ancient Rome at the mammoth venue called the Circus Maximus. Thus his tremendous musical forces clashed and tumbled upon one another, then retreated in night's peace only to rev up again. It's a complicated theater piece, which Slatkin managed with absolute aplomb. His big band put their hearts into it, and the assembled Romans, if a bit dazed, seemed to love it.

Slatkin and the DSO strings also offered a radiant performance of Bach's Air on the G String in memory of violinist Felix Resnick, a 65-year veteran of the orchestra who died Wednesday at age 89.

Lawrence B. Johnson is a Detroit-based cultural writer and critic. You can reach him at lawrencebj@gmail.com

 

[SOTSDO]

My buddy Lenny (we go way back, to the days when he was a Mama's boy assistant with the Saint Louis Symphony and when I was a bassoon player with a community orchestra that was part of his "community duties" to visit now and again) will stick around until he gets a better offer somewhere else. Once he entered the top tier of conductors, he was lying out of one side of his mouth ("Oh, I'd never leave Saint Louis; I feel at home here") while negotiating his next jump out of the other. Once he got to the National Symphony, he just recycled all of his schtick, subbing in the District of Columbia/Northern Virginia for any mention of Saint Louis.

I have real trouble envisioning people who would willingly move to the Detroit area. Even the upscale areas are slowing eroding, and the city proper (renaissance claims notwithstanding) isn't anything to write home about. But, if the money's there, so too will be our Lenny - until Toledo offers him a better deal.

 

[Ed]

I thought Slatkin showed great promise with St. Louis but overall I'm not particularly impressed by his conducting or interpretations. I think of him as a competent conductor but his work in D.C. left me cold. A number of conductors have made a wonderful career out of jumping from orchestra to orchestra and in that vein I won't give Slatkin too hard of a time as I think he's no worse than most of his peers. I'm just not that impressed with him but hopefully he'll be able to do something decent with Detroit. Frankly, I think that he could have built St. Louis into an orchestra that was the equal if not superior to Detroit given time and resources.

 

[SOTSDO]

I'd agree if only he did not work the "I love it here!" crap so strongly. Take the money, but keep your mouth shut about how much you love Saint Louis/the DC area/Detroit. But, with him, it's part of the whole package.