In Thursday’s (11/3) Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Mark Kanny writes, “No arm twisting was needed when Pittsburgh Symphony management asked Leonard Slatkin whether he would conduct a program featuring members of the orchestra as soloists. ‘It’s fun, and it’s good to have people come to center stage,’ the symphony’s principal guest conductor says. Slatkin is music director of the Detroit Symphony and just started this fall as music director of Orchestre National de Lyons in France. … He knows from experience that audiences enjoy seeing individuals from the orchestra in the spotlight. … Choosing the pieces for the concert began with consultations with the soloists. Slatkin says principal oboist Cynthia DeAlmeida brought up Alfred Schnittke’s Oboe Concerto, but he wasn’t sold on the piece after performing it in Dresden, Germany. Instead, he suggested ‘The Flower Clock’ by Jean Francaix, which was written for Philadelphia Orchestra principal oboist John De Lancie, who was DeAlmeida’s teacher. … Principal violist Randolph Kelly suggested several options from which Slatkin picked Walter Piston’s Viola Concerto. … From there, it was easy to see Benjamin Britten’s ‘A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’ would be a strong finale. … ‘It features everyone in a solo capacity,’ Slatkin notes.”
Posted November 3, 2011
