The acoustics of Powell Hall. The musicians. The audience.
David Robertson acknowledges that embarking on his final season as music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is “bittersweet.” Robertson, however, who’s been with the SLSO since 2005, isn’t looking back just yet. He’s focused on the orchestra’s upcoming season, its 138th.
“One of the things that is fascinating about music is that while it’s going on it’s absolutely extraordinary and you are involved with it and it is completely alive. In this way, it is a metaphor for life and I think the most important thing you can do in life, as in music, is not take anything for granted,” Robertson told St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh.
“The season that we’ve got at the moment is a fantastic one and I’ve tried every season to do that because you never know when your last is going to be,” Robertson said.
The highlights Robertson mentioned include the return of SLSO conductor laureate Leonard Slatkin, an all French program to be conducted by music director designate Stéphane Denève and a concert with jazz musician and composer Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
“This group and the St. Louis Symphony are two of the best groups I know and to have them on the same stage together makes for a really wonderful farewell,” Robertson said of Marsalis.
Robertson also highlighted upcoming performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and the rarely performed Missa Solemnis, a major undertaking for the St. Louis Symphony Chorus.
The SLSO will also embark on its fourth tour in California under Robertson’s tenure.
“The Rams may move but we’re staying in St. Louis,” Robertson said of the success of previous California tours and the calls among some people to have the SLSO move to California.
The season kicks off this Saturday with an all-Mozart program featuring pianist Emanuel Ax. Saturday night concerts are broadcast on St. Louis Public Radio.
Related Event
What: David Robertson conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra with pianist Emanuel Ax
When: Sept. 23 at 8:00 p.m., Sept. 24 at 3:00 p.m.
Where: Powell Symphony Hall, 718 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63103
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