We need a Slatkin RCA box--so many great recordings that are no longer readily available!

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed!

We need a Slatkin/St. Louis box!

Leonard is the greatest guy on so many levels. Smart as a whip and, well, kind.....just KIND. Always willing to help in this business. Rare.

I live in Canada and my PBS feed comes from Detroit. It featured many programs showing Slatkin talking about the symphony orchestra, the various instruments, how he rehearsed the orchestra before a performance and how he chose what was performed. Highly educational and entertaining.

Great review for a great conductor! When will Sony wake up and give us his rca work in a mega box? Enjoyed the insider review as well.

He’s still well-loved in St. Louis; people are always asking the symphony when next he’s conducting.

@brucemiller5356

2 жыл бұрын

no shade intended on those who followed, but i think slatkin was just fantastic. i have been so lucky to hear conductors like slatkin, solti, guilini, Barenboim, leinsdorf, previn...whew there were more .lol

I knew Maestro Slatkin's mother from my time as a student at DePaul, where she taught for a few years. I also remember him conducting the Chicago Civic Orchestra back in those years. He's consistently excellent. Count me as an admirer. As a trombone player, I love playing the Schubert. It's a fun piece.

His Haydn is superb.

Love his recording of Dohnanyi’s Suite op 19 with the St Louis Symphony- it was recorded for RCA but never released! Finally appeared on a minor label with some other Hungarian pieces- a great disc

Your comments on his SLSO years are spot on. That orchestra was as good as any I have ever heard. Personally, I would put the current Pittsburgh Symphony in that category. Maybe there is something about formerly industrialized cities on rivers...

@brucemiller5356

2 жыл бұрын

i thought they were as good as the cso, when i attended concerts in the 90s and early 00s. glad to see dave agrees.

Back in April of 1995, Maestro Slatkin conducted the final concert of the San Francisco Symphony’s ‘94-‘95 season. Tchaikovsky’s Fourth made up the concert’s second half. The first half featured Vaughan Williams’ Pastoral Symphony, with Linda Hohenfeld (Slatkin’s wife at the time) as soprano soloist. Both newspaper critics at the time were so impressed by VW’s Third that Tchaikovsky’s Fourth was barely mentioned in their reviews. The SF Chronicle critic, in fact, described the Pastoral as the most “gorgeous” music the symphony audience had been treated to all season. I had to agree. Maestro Slatkin has been a hero of mine ever since. Thanks, David Hurwitz, for yet another wonderful video!

Three little Slatkin factoids. While working for a small commercial classical music radio station a number of years ago I interviewed a local music professor whose latest orchestra work had won a prestigious national award. The professor told me that part of the prize was a performance led by Leonard Slatkin. In Slatkin’s pre-concert meeting with the composer they got along famously, spending most of the time not talking out the work in question but sharing their admiration for Sibelius 7th Symphony. Although this radio station was in a small town we did have visiting orchestra concerts, and one season Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony were on the schedule. I was pleased to see that they were playing Howard Hanson’s “Romantic” symphony which they had recently recorded for EMI. I was stunned when, compared to the record, the concert performance was much, much, swifter. This was “explained” the next day by an acquaintance with friends in the orchestra - the Hanson was the last work on a long show and there was still a nearly two-hour bus ride to Los Angeles for the orchestra after leaving the stage a bit after 10PM. So the maestro may have moved things along a bit. And finally, a year or so after I left the station, I started hearing a custom promotional announcement made for the station by Mr. Sltakin, and the only one by any artist that station ran, a demonstration of Maestro Slatkin’s generosity.

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the stories. Speeding things up to catch a bus is a perfectly legitimate tactic. At the MET here in New York, Wagner always got faster towards the end because after midnight the union got overtime, and so the performance just HAD to end sooner, no matter what. You've never heard Brunhilde immolated so quickly.

@brucemiller5356

2 жыл бұрын

@@DavesClassicalGuide as mark twain said of wagner 'his music is better than it sounds'

Wonderful Top Ten in posts the last two weeks. As you said David, both Neeme Järvi and Leonard Slatkin have devoted themselves to performing lesser known and newly composed works, perhaps more so than standard rep. And they do it with respect and profound skill to put it across. Not with a “Holier than Thou” attitude, like some other giants in the conducting world. I’ve seen Slatkin conduct many times. And almost every performance had a living composer’s work on the program. Love him!

America's Conductor 👍

I appreciate Maestro Slatkin’s candor in discussing his career, and his good sense of humor. He came on Jimmy Kimmel the other year when the Oscars in memoriam mistakenly showed his picture instead of Andre Previn and was pretty good natured about it.

When Slatkin was with the NSO he unfortunately made few recordings. One of the best in my book is his Prokofiev Sixth Symphony and other works. I attended many of his concerts and never came away disappointed.

I bought the Schubert some minutes ago. I can‘t wait for it. And now I will see the insider video. Greetings from Northern Germany

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

Have fun!

David, Such a pleasure to hear your comments about Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. I was living in St. Louis during much of Slatkin's time there, starting when he was the Assistant Conductor, then passed over for the job of Music Director, and had a triumphant return announced by a sign over the freeway, "HE'S BACK!" Should make a great story in Slatkin's book. Also appreciated your comments about the Principal Oboist, Richard Woodhams. There was a picture in Powell Hall of Issac Stern, not playing, but listening intently, to Woodhams playing the solo at the beginning of the slow movement to Brahms" Violin Concerto.

@brucemiller5356

2 жыл бұрын

when i was at the u of missouri-columbia, the slso came once a year. the only time i got to hear them was at an open rehearsal, with susskind conducting beethoven's 7th. after tweaking here and there, they played the whole symphony. it was marvelous.

I've been a fan of Leonard Slatkin for quite some time now. I have his Tchaikovsky cycle, but got the discs mainly for the fillers. The Tempest, Hamlet, Fatum and the like. Everything is superb. I have a friend that went to The Los Angeles City College Of Music with Maestro Slatkin. They even performed together on March 28, 1963 doing some Vieuxtemps. Perhaps Mr. Slatkin remembers or maybe would like to forget about this. He's come a long way, baby !!!!! Will try to send you a copy of the program, Dave on your website. Keep The Videos coming....

Being an orchestral musician myself, I can relate to Slatkin s reluctance to listen to the finished recordings. I would listen to my orchestra s recordings on CDs and would cringe when hearing mistakes . You cannot fix the mistakes as in a rehearsal setting and being a perfectionist that I am ,I just surrender to the final outcome.

Hey David I recently bit the bullet and became an Insider. So far, so good. :)

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much!

bless your heart for recognizing the brilliance of the slso. i really enjoyed all their concerts (well, the mahler 6 was a sort of dud)

I appreciate your shoutout for the download Beethoven and Brahms cycles from Detroit.

Here's a plug for Felix Slatkin's collection on Scribendum. A 13 CD set with lots of terrific stuff - some war horses and some really unusual items (e.g. Milhaud's Concerto for Percussion and Small Orchestra). A nice stop gap until the Fiedler box comes (think positive!)

It is so unfortunate that Slatkin is often overlooked. A marvelous musician. Please do a video on Fritz Reiner. Thank you!

I've been attending SLSO concerts since the early 90s, near the end of his tenure. Essentially, it was the start of my regular concertgoing. While I really appreciated some of the cool and difficult works David Robertson did with the orchestra, when I hear that orchestra at its best...it's with Slatkin's sound in mind. The brass were beautiful and strong...but not overly muscular and on roids like a certain famed ensemble. The strings were as plush as Ormandy's in Philly...but responsive, and capable of biting attacks when required. And the reeds were beautiful. If the strings don't give a recording of theirs away on the radio...usually Peter Bowman's oboe playing is a "fingerprint." They certainly aren't bad...but when I hear them today, they're a little more anonymous/vanilla. I miss that distinct sound he honed. It was already a fine ensemble...but like Ormandy, he took it to the next level. As a college student, I recall a review I'm almost certain you wrote praising Slatkin's Vaughan Williams' Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, with him leading the Philharmonia Orchestra. While you praised it, you also mentioned you would have favored if he did it with the SLSO. You took some heat for that in the Critic's Corner, if I remember; and you defended that stance. Of course, I'm a little biased...and sometimes it's natural for a college kid to say, "I agree with that view." In this case, my haughty side thought, "Look, HE agrees with ME!" I'll have to finally re-up my membership at some point soon. But I'm glad Slatkin and you are praising his Schubert Ninth.

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, that was my review...thanks for the memories!

@brucemiller5356

2 жыл бұрын

alas, the cso and the slso were the only two orchestras i have gotten to attend on a regular basis. (one trip to Carnegie Hall to hear the Boston orchestra. nowadays i have to content myself with discs.

Mr. Hurwitz, Thanks so much for this intro video as well the full upload on ClassicsToday! Your videos have introduced to me a great deal of the Slatkin discography, but this is more of a question for you that has been bothering me regarding some Slatkin RCA Masters sets I own. Seems like most of that series comes packaged in protective cardboard boxes, but my Slatkin Elgar and Tchaikovsky Ballets are in the cheapy multi-disc jewel cases (purchased on Amazon). Did RCA ever issue authentic releases in this packaging? Seems like the reviews an Amazon only make it more confusing as the authenticity of these products in the stated above packaging. I doubt I would have gotten a response from the actual label, so if you happen to read this, thanks so much for your time. Westley

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

They are CDR repackagings. I do believe they come from the label, or did while they were available. I have a few as well. They sound fine and I don't worry about it, but it's definitely cheaper stuff.

@westleywallace7778

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! The sound to me is good as well, but I was just curious as a collector. All the best!

one moe thought on slatkin: if the c.s.o. has not completed its epic search for a new musical director, they could do themselves a favor and hand the podium to him. he was a finalist when they picked muti.

@markwolf1374

4 ай бұрын

At this stage of his career and life, I’d even take a Haitink-like role for him as principal conductor.

@brucemiller5356

3 ай бұрын

@@markwolf1374 i suppose as principal guest conductor. yes. then if klaus flames out slatkin could step in. i would love to know who else the board considered and who else thy might have offered the podium.

Mr. Hurwitz, have you considered talking about books about music that we all should read? I think is a completely overlooked topic. I hope you consider it! Thanks as always, your channel became almost a daily habit.

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

I have, and I have mentioned them in passing. I don't have plans at this time to do it more systematically.

Fascinating list as always; the American recordings I purchased as they came out and encountered some amazing music (and whose covers were wonderful.) To your list I would modestly add the Vaughan Williams symphonic cycle, which I currently over the Boult and Previn cycles, and his Haydn London symphonies with the Philharmonia, very musical. He was deeply admired here in New Orleans.

Slatkin is an excellent conductor and has lots and lots of marvelous recordings with SLSO. To bad he didn't made to many recordings during his BBCSO tenure.

He has to do Pierre Monteux and Charles Munch at some point… 🤞🙏🤞

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, I do.

@brucemiller5356

2 жыл бұрын

@@DavesClassicalGuide thanks to dave, i bought monteux's cso's recording of franck's 'symphony in D' i have two munch bso recordings, which my sieve like mind cannot pull up at the moment. i am always so glad when dave names one of the recordings i have

Dave. I intend to sign up for the premium site. Of the conductors you feature there would you consider reviewing leinsdorf who is underrated imo and steinberg?

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

Of course, although while Steinberg is definitely underrated I'm not so sure about Leinsdorf.

@martinhaub2602

2 жыл бұрын

@@DavesClassicalGuide Definitely underrated. His books are also fantastic.

I suspect Slatkin is underappreciated because of his family's Hollywood connections. Andre Previn made his career overseas, it is worth noting.

@martinhaub2602

2 жыл бұрын

I don't think Hollywood had much to do with it; he's American, and for a lot of people - both in the music business and the audiences - that's a negative. People just believe that only someone with a European accent should be conductors - Americans are good for pops music. Even today - look at Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minnesota, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Dallas, National...they're all run by non-Americans. Very, very sad. Even the few women conductors that are starting to get attention are from Europe. The anti-American bias is a real tragedy.

@BriGuy1974

2 жыл бұрын

There was (and is) a bit of snobbery involved as well -- St. Louis isn't one of the "Big Five;" nor Detroit. But the Big Five isn't really relevant anymore.

he is a nice guy; maybe too nice. he was shown the door in st. louis, b.c empty seats started to show up. under slatkin, as far as i am concerned, the slso sounded every bit as good as the cso.

@BriGuy1974

2 жыл бұрын

He was selling out Powell Hall through the end. The larger problem didn't involve Slatkin directly -- the orchestra's management was not forthright about the budget. But when Slatkin moved on in the mid-nineties, he'd been there one way or another since the mid-sixties.

@brucemiller5356

2 жыл бұрын

@@BriGuy1974 not selling out powell hall a # of nights i was there. i noticed a few rows at the back right of the main floor that were empty. i wish now i had gone down close to the stage to see if that was true upstairs. at least slatkin comes back and conducts from time to time.

@BriGuy1974

2 жыл бұрын

@@brucemiller5356 There is a massive difference between having large amounts of empty seats and having a few seats open here or there. Powell Hall is a barn and the St. Louis community had not been effusive in its support of the symphony. Slatkin was hardly run out of town. I think he simply wanted to move on to new challenges.

yeah, his choice of 'contemporary music' did not sit well with the stodgy slso audience