In Tuesday’s (6/9) Detroit News, Lawrence B. Johnson writes that in his first season “as music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin says he gleaned a clear impression of an ensemble with a strong work ethic and a collective desire to be their best. But as he looks ahead to his first full season in Detroit, Slatkin also acknowledges great financial obstacles that now face the DSO. … ‘If there’s no audience, no revenue. … But maybe something can be found. There’s no summer opera festival in the Midwest, for example. Everybody wants to exhaust all possibilities before saying no more summers (of employment).’ What Slatkin will not hear of is downsizing the orchestra to something like a large chamber ensemble of, say, 45-65 musicians. … ‘Everybody talks about downsizing, but that just doesn’t work. You lose what you stand for,’ Slatkin says. ‘When you do that, you’ve negated 125 years of legacy. It’s just impossible to function.’ ”
Posted June 10, 2009
