In Saturday’s (3/24) Cincinnati Enquirer, Janelle Gelfand writes, “Toledo-born conductor Dennis Russell Davies is a maverick known for promoting the music of our time. Since 1980, he has lived and focused his career in Europe, where he is currently chief conductor and music director of the Bruckner Orchestra and Linz Opera in Linz, Austria, and music director of the Basel (Switz.) Symphony. … A longtime friend of the composer Philip Glass, Davies has premiered many Glass works and recorded all nine of his symphonies. Next weekend, he will lead the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of Glass’ Cello Concerto No. 2, ‘Naqoyqatsi,’ with cellist Matt Haimovitz. A live recording of the performances will be produced for Orange Mountain Music.” On working with Glass, Davies says, “There’s a great mutual trust there. Generally, I start seeing it right from the manuscript. With the Ninth Symphony, which we premiered in Linz on Jan. 1 and later that month at Carnegie Hall on his birthday, we spent a week together before the first rehearsal just going over everything, and he made a lot of revisions. … One of the things about Philip is that he writes very well for the [cello]. He has the color of the instrument in his mind. Philip’s orchestra has a very distinctive sound in it.”
Posted March 26, 2012
