France meets Russia at the Detroit Symphony

By Erica Miner, 04 December 2020

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“Mazzola’s luminous interpretation conjured images of the Belle Époque”

Reviewed at Orchestra Hall, Detroit on 3 December 2020

Ravel, Pavane pour une infante défunte

Stravinsky, L'Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier's Tale): Suite

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor

Bignamini conducts Detroit Symphony in a resplendent Beethoven 9

Sam Jacobson, 14th May

DSO music director Jader Bignamini leads his ensemble in the glory of Beethoven’s Ninth, prefaced by a recent work written as a companion piece to the symphony.

****1

A triple serving of Salome from Fabien Gabel in Detroit

Phillip Nones, 22nd April

The French conductor leads a “Salome-centric” concert high on drama and color, joined by Nicolas Altstaedt in presenting a cello concerto new to American audiences.

****1

The concerto reconstructed: Detroit Symphony plays Sorey premiere

Annie Nikunen, 6th November

DSO plays Florence Price's Five Folksongs in Counterpoint and performs the world premiere of Tyshawn Sorey's For Marcos Balter for violin and orchestra with Jennifer Koh.

*****

Jacquelyn Stucker thrills in Strauss with the Detroit Symphony

Timothy Robson, 23rd October

Donald Runnicles conducted an imaginative chamber version of Strauss' testamentary Lieder, plus Elgar's own take on the concerto grosso form in his Introduction and Allegro.

***11

Jader Bignamini makes a strong impression with the Detroit Symphony

Timothy Robson, 18th September

In one of his first assignments as Music Director in Detroit, Bignamini conducts rarely-heard works by two Americans, along with an 18th-century Classical symphony by the Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

***11

Shostakovich the stand-out in a half-hearted Detroit program

Brian Wigman, 10th December

An uninspired evening of classics, that nonetheless showed off the many sides of Shostakovich.

**111

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Erica Miner

As a Metropolitan Opera violinist Erica performed with James Levine, Leonard Bernstein and countless opera luminaries. Now an award-winning author, screenwriter, arts journalist and lecturer, Erica’s opera presentations include Wagner Societies in California, New York, Boston, North Carolina and Sydney, Australia. Her recently released novel Aria for Murder, the first in her ‘Operatic Mystery’ series, authentically reflects her experiences in the Met Orchestra. Sequels are due in 2023 and 2024. Erica’s personal website is here.