Sunday, August 3, 2008
Review
On a perfect summer night, Slatkin charms the DSO
Lawrence B. Johnson / Special to The Detroit News
ROCHESTER HILLS -- Meadow Brook Festival......................
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Anyone bursting with excitement over conductor Leonard Slatkin's appointment as DSO music director.
But, Saturday night had that zing DSO patrons have been waiting for, the champagne-like fizz that DSO musicians say they've experienced with Slatkin from the start.

Even more impressive, and more auspicious, was Slatkin's collaboration with Lithuanian pianist Muza Rubackyte on Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor.

Rubackyte, a former child prodigy of the erstwhile Soviet Union, is now a fully flowered artist in mid-career. She's a formidable pianist but, more to the point, a commanding and perceptive musician who seemed to breathe as much as play Tchaikovsky's grandiose concerto. I was struck by the authority and confidence expressed by her body English. She was in the stream of the piece first to last. It was very beautiful playing by a  pianist who knew exactly what she wanted and why and how to achieve it. Her performance was essentially songful, not wanting in majesty but nuanced as only elegant pianists can manage and only genuinely self-confident ones will dare.

Slatkin had the orchestra right with her, providing both a fluid rhythmic pulse and a symphonic backdrop of plush textures and vivid colors. On a summer's night, this was seriously attentive playing by the DSO.
That's how this concert felt -- like the first real encounter with Leonard Slatkin. It was very promising.

Lawrence B. Johnson is a Detroit-based cultural writer and critic. You can reach
him at lawrencebj@gmail.com<mailto:lawrencebj@gmail.com>.