2017-2018 CLASSICAL SEASON
THE MAESTRO’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY 8 WORLD PREMIERES WINTER FRENCH FESTIVAL OPERA IN CONCERT YOUR DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WELCOME TO THE 2017-2018 SEASON!
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CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 #DSOLIVE WEBCASTS 6 CLASSICAL LINEUP 7 FRENCH FESTIVAL 16
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THE MAESTRO’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY Last season, the Detroit Free Press proclaimed that “All of the players who have joined the DSO in recent years increasingly seem to be comprising a single organism. It’s part of the legacy that Slatkin shares with the musicians who have committed themselves to Detroit.” Come witness the partnership of Maestro Leonard Slatkin and the DSO as we celebrate his 10th anniversary as Music Director in the 2017-2018 Season. Maestro Slatkin leads thirteen varied programs with highlights to include a winter French music festival, eight world premieres, and a closing concert performance of Puccini’s powerful opera Turandot. Along the way, he will conduct some of his most cherished works for orchestra — Beethoven’s Third Symphony, Mahler’s Ninth, Tchaikovsky’s Sixth, and Stravinsky’s thunderous Rite of Spring.
“The orchestra finds itself in a state of artistic vitality.” —DETROIT FREE PRESS
Leonard Slaktin Music Director Music Directorship endowed by the Kresge Foundation
Neeme Järvi Music Director Emeritus Michelle Merrill Associate Conductor Phillip and Lauren Fisher Community Ambassador
Presented by PVS Chemicals, Inc.
#DSOLive
LIVE FROM ORCHESTRA HALL WEBCASTS The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is proud to be the only American orchestra to present every Classical program over the Internet . . . free to enjoy in stunning high definition and CD quality audio.
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Live from Orchestra Hall is presented by the Ford Motor Company Fund and made possible by generous support from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
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Leonard Slatkin
OCTOBER 12 - 14, 2017
BEETHOVEN’S “EROICA” SYMPHONY Leonard Slatkin conductor Olga Kern piano OCTOBER 14 CONOR BROWN World Premiere BARBER Piano Concerto BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, “Eroica” Leonard Slatkin’s 10th Season as DSO Music Director opens with Beethoven’s transformational 3rd Symphony, a work that would redefine the scope of what a symphony could be, and called the “Eroica” for its wide range of emotion. Pianist Olga Kern returns to perform Barber’s Piano Concerto, a famously challenging work that was made humanly possible to play only after a timely intervention by the mighty Vladimir Horowitz.
Eric Nowlin DSO Principal Viola
OCTOBER 20 & 21, 2017
HAROLD IN ITALY Leonard Slatkin conductor Wei Yu cello OCTOBER 21 Eric Nowlin viola LOREN LOIACONO World Premiere ELGAR Cello Concerto BERLIOZ Harold in Italy Paganini dismissed early sketches of Berlioz’s Harold in Italy as unsuitable for the celebrated virtuoso. After hearing the final work years later, he pulled the composer on stage and knelt before him in front of a cheering audience. On a program with your DSO Principal musicians as featured soloists, Eric Nowlin performs the music depicting the melancholy traveler Harold, and Wei Yu returns as a soloist for Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
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Juraj Valčuha
NOVEMBER 4 & 5, 2017
RACHMANINOFF SYMPHONIC DANCES Juraj Valčuha conductor Stefan Jackiw violin NOVEMBER 5 LIADOV The Enchanted Lake KORNGOLD Violin Concerto RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances Slovak conductor Juraj Valčuha leads the DSO in Rachmaninoff’s final completed work for orchestra, the vibrant Symphonic Dances.
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The DSO welcomes back Giancarlo Guerrero for Tchaikovsky’s iconic Romeo & Juliet Overture, on a program featuring rising star Daniil Trifonov. The Los Angeles Times says, “Everywhere Trifonov goes . . . he’s a sensation.”
Giancarlo Guerrero
NOVEMBER 9 - 11, 2017
TCHAIKOVSKY ROMEO & JULIET Giancarlo Guerrero conductor Daniil Trifonov piano NOVEMBER 10 TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo & Juliet Overture DANIIL TRIFONOV Piano Concerto MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3 10
Fabien Gabel
NOVEMBER 18 & 19, 2017
DON JUAN Fabien Gabel conductor Bertrand Chamayou piano
NOVEMBER 19
R. STRAUSS Don Juan R. STRAUSS Burleske BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 From its opening flourish, Strauss’ Don Juan takes you on the legendary lover’s adventures, until he ultimately faces the consequences of his promiscuity. The young Strauss admired the 19th Century master Johannes Brahms, who honored past greats with a more traditional style embodied in his Second Symphony.
Mark Wigglesworth
NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 2, 2017
RUSSIAN PORTRAITS Mark Wigglesworth conductor Karen Gomyo violin DECEMBER 2 TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 10 Through a life of being censored and scrutinized, many believe Shostakovich covertly wove his dissent of Stalin and the Soviet government throughout his music. His Tenth Symphony is at times dark and brooding, at others blazing with relentless speed. Written shortly after Stalin’s death. Shostakovich described the work as a portrait of the leader’s years in power.
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DECEMBER 9 & 10, 2017
MAHLER’S NINTH Leonard Slatkin conductor JOSHUA CERDENIA World Premiere MAHLER Symphony No. 9
DECEMBER 10
Gustav Mahler said “A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.” In Mahler’s Ninth and final full symphony, he created a world bridging the spaces between life, fate, and joy. It also takes its place among the “final ninths” of Beethoven, Schubert, and Dvořák; a musical autobiography reliving his exploration of love, longing, beauty, and inevitably, death, eventually fading away into the ether as a final farewell.
Stephen Hough
JANUARY 6 & 7, 2018
RING WITHOUT WORDS James Gaffigan conductor Stephen Hough piano
JANUARY 7
BRITTA BYSTRÖM Many, Yet One (World Premiere) LISZT Piano Concerto No. 1 WAGNER Ring Without Words Wagner’s master achievement, Ring cycle features gods, mortals, and mythical creatures scheming to gain the magic ring that endows its possessor power over the world, complete with some of the most powerful music ever written. Through the late Lorin Maazel’s orchestral compilation Ring Without Words, Wagner’s four installments of Der Ring des Nibelungen are presented together in concert.
Nikolaj Znaider
JANUARY 26 & 27, 2018
MOZART’S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 20 Nikolaj Znaider conductor Saleem Ashkar piano
JANUARY 27
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 20 ELGAR Symphony No. 2 Edward Elgar’s enigmatic nature fuels speculation as to the true inspiration for his Symphony No. 2. He dedicated the work to King Edward VII, but personal comments hint that his true muse was a close friend rumored to be a romantic partner. Still, different inscriptions in the music simultaneously point to his time in Venice, poetry, and even his favorite flower.
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FRENCH
FESTIVAL WINTER 2018
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FEBRUARY 8 & 9, 2016
DAPHNIS AND CHLOE Leonard Slatkin conductor Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano FEBRUARY 9 RAVEL RAVEL RAVEL RAVEL RAVEL
Alborada del Gracioso Pavane for a Dead Princess Piano Concerto in G Piano Concerto for the Left Hand Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2
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FEBRUARY 10 & 11, 2018
ORGAN SYMPHONY Leonard Slatkin conductor George Li piano SAINT-SAËNS SAINT-SAËNS SAINT-SAËNS SAINT-SAËNS
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FEBRUARY 11
Marche Heroique Danse Macabre Piano Concerto No. 2 Symphony No. 3 “Organ”
FEBRUARY 16, 2018
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Leonard Slatkin conductor Michelle and Christina Naughton piano
FEBRUARY 16
MILHAUD Suite franรงaise POULENC Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra MILHAUD A Frenchman in New York GERSHWIN An American in Paris
FEBRUARY 17 & 18, 2018
CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS Leonard Slatkin conductor Michelle and Christina Naughton piano
FEBRUARY 18
DUKAS The Sorcerer’s Apprentice SAINT-SAËNS Carnival of the Animals SATIE Gymnopédies Nos. 1 and 3 OFFENBACH Gaite Parisieine (with “Can Can” dancers) 20
FEBRUARY 22 & 23, 2018
DEBUSSY: LA MER & FAUN Leonard Slatkin conductor Renaud Capuรงon violin
FEBRUARY 23
RABAUD Procession Nocturne SAINT-SAร NS Violin Concerto No. 3 DEBUSSY Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun DEBUSSY La mer
FEBRUARY 23 & 24, 2018
SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE Leonard Slatkin conductor Renaud Capuรงon violin
FEBRUARY 24
GUILLAUME CONNESSON Supernova RAVEL Violin Sonata RAVEL Tzigane BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique
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MARCH 2 & 3, 2018
40TH ANNUAL CLASSICAL ROOTS Joseph Young conductor
MARCH 3
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s annual celebration of African-American contributions to classical music.
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Premiered as part of a patriotic program honoring soldiers wounded in battle against Napoleon’s forces, Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony was enthusiastically welcomed by its first audience, still reeling from previous French occupation. They also instantly demanded an encore of the second movement, a march-like procession among his most recognizable works, and widely found in film and television today.
Augustin Hadelich
MARCH 23 & 24, 2018
BEETHOVEN’S SEVENTH Jukka-Pekka Saraste conductor Augustin Hadelich violin BRITTEN Violin Concerto BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 24
MARCH 24
APRIL 6 & 7, 2018
STRAUSS & WAGNER Leonard Slatkin conductor Yoonshin Song violin
APRIL 7
STEVEN BRYANT World Premiere BARTÓK Violin Concerto No. 2 WAGNER Siegfried Idyll R. STRAUSS Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks Originally composed as a gift to his wife after the birth of their son Siegfried, Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll would eventually serve as musical inspiration to parts of his Ring cycle. Richard Strauss brings the mischievous Till Eulenspiegel to life as he creates chaos in a marketplace, mocks clergymen, and eventually is put on trial and sentenced to the gallows for his misdeeds.
Hannu Lintu
APRIL 12 - 14, 2018
SCHUMANN’S “SPRING” Hannu Lintu conductor Ray Chen violin
APRIL 13
SHOSTAKOVICH Violin Concerto No. 1 SCHUMANN Symphony No. 1, “Spring” Trumpets begin Schumann’s First Symphony announcing an awakening – Spring! The air is filled with sounds of a world turning green as everything bursts to life. Woven with the colors and vitality of Winter’s end, Schumann sought to cure our longing for a new season. Hannu Lintu leads the DSO on a program featuring Ray Chen, one of the most compelling young violinists today who’s sparking his own musical awakening, with millions of followers online.
Nicolas Altstaedt
APRIL 28 & 29, 2018
DANCES AND NOCTURNES Fabien Gabel conductor Nicolas Altstaedt cello UMS Choral Union chorus
APRIL 29
FRANCK Le Chausseur Maudit DUTILLEUX Tout un monde lointain DEBUSSY Nocturnes RAVEL La Valse French artists were masters in capturing the essence of a subject through suggestion and atmosphere, a trait not only found in visual arts and literature, but also through the music of French composers. The music of Franck, Debussy, Ravel, and Dutilleux conjures visions of distant worlds, the spirit of the hunt, the playfulness of natural light, and the soul of the dance in a program spanning a century of French impressionism.
John Storgårds
MAY 3 - 5, 2018
BEETHOVEN’S THIRD CONCERTO John Storgårds conductor Louis Lortie piano
MAY 5
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 SIBELIUS Symphony No. 7 Having moved to Vienna in 1792 intending to study with Haydn, Beethoven soon grew weary of his lessons, and was left uninspired. More alluring were Mozart’s melodies and rhythms. Beethoven found himself more at home following the late Mozart’s footsteps, whose spirit still echoed throughout the city. That influence is evident in Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, which pays tribute to Mozart, while still blazing its own trail. This performance is made possible with generous support from the Bonnie Ann and Robert C. Larson Guest Pianist Fund.
MAY 25 - 27, 2018
TCHAIKOVSKY’S SIXTH SYMPHONY Leonard Slatkin conductor Jennifer Koh violin
MAY 26
ROSHANNE ETEZADY World Premiere CHRIS CERRONE Violin Concerto (world premiere) TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6 Each symphony Tchaikovsky composed brought with it ever more emotional intensity. His final symphony, “Pathétique,” was his most personal expression, containing a meaning he kept secret to his grave. Leonard Slatkin leads Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony along with world premieres from two rising American composers.
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MAY 31 - JUNE 2, 2018
RITE OF SPRING Leonard Slatkin conductor Seong-Jin Cho piano
JUNE 1
JARED MILLER World Premiere CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 1 STRAVINSKY Rite of Spring Following its infamous premiere, Stravinsky’s revolutionary score depicting the ancient rituals and folk music of Russia has since become an audience favorite, inspiring composers from Copland to Messiaen.
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JUNE 8 & 10, 2018
PUCCINI’S TURANDOT Leonard Slatkin conductor Othalie Graham soprano Guanqun Yu soprano Jonathan Burton tenor Hao Jiang Tian bass PUCCINI Turandot
JUNE 10
In the final program of his 10th season as DSO Music Director, Leonard Slatkin leads the DSO in a concert setting of Puccini’s final opera, Turandot. In the composer’s vision of ancient China, three riddles stand before any suitor wishing to marry Princess Turandot, and one wrong answer means death.
Leonard Slatkin, Music Director Music Directorship endowed by the Kresge Foundation Anne Parsons, President and CEO James B. and Ann V. Nicholson Chair Mark Davidoff, Chairman, Board of Directors
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