2021-2022 DSO Classical Season

2 0 2 1- 2 0 2 2 DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MUSIC DIRECTOR JADER BIGNAMINI

CLASSICAL SEASON

Hear. Together.

P R O G R A M S

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CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Ray Chen

JADER CONDUCTS FOUNTAINS & PINES OF ROME Thurs. Oct. 7 at 7:30pm Sat. Oct 9 at 8:00pm Sun. Oct 10 at 3:00pm Jader Bignamini, conductor Ray Chen, violin JESSIE MONTGOMERY Banner SIBELIUS Concerto for Violin & Orchestra in D minor, Op. 47 ­ — RESPIGHI Fountains of Rome RESPIGHI Pines of Rome

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historic season opens with a celebration of the unparalleled sound of Orchestra Hall.

Jader Bignamini kicks off his first full season as Music Director showcasing the majesty of Detroit’s acoustic gem with two audience favorites: Respighi’s symphonic poems describing the stunning fountains and graceful pines of his beloved Rome.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Yevgeny Kutik

TCHAIKOVSKY’S FIFTH Fri. Oct 15 at 10:45am Fri. Oct 15 at 8:00pm Sat. Oct 16 at 8:00pm Leonard Slatkin, conductor Yevgeny Kutik, violin SAMUEL ADLER Mirror Images (World Premiere)

JOSEPH SCHWANTNER Violin Concerto (World Premiere)

­— TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

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usic Director Laureate Leonard Slatkin returns to Orchestra Hall to conduct world premieres by two friends, Samuel Adler and Joseph Schwantner, and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, a work the composer called “a complete resignation before Fate.”

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Alexandra Dariescu

DVOŘÁK & LEE: NEW WORLDS Fri. Oct. 29 at 8:00pm Sat. Oct. 30 at 8:00pm Sun. Oct. 31 at 3:00pm Eric Jacobsen, conductor Alexandra Dariescu, piano ENESCU Concerto for Piano & Orchestra C. SCHUMANN Concerto for Piano & Orchestra in A minor, Op. 7 ­ — JAMES LEE III Amer’ican (World Premiere) DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, “From the New Word”

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vořák’s Ninth Symphony, “From the New World,” blends the traditional folk sounds of the composer’s Czech homeland with melodies discovered in African American and Native American music of the United States. A world premiere commission by James Lee III, Amer’ican is, in the composer’s words, a “21st century response to Dvořák’s charge to American composers to incorporate the music of Native and Negro American music melodies.”

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Jader Bignamini

JADER CONDUCTS RACHMANINOFF Thurs. Nov. 4 at 7:30pm Fri. Nov. 5 at 10:45am Sat. Nov. 6 at 8:00pm Jader Bignamini, conductor Sergei Babayan, piano RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 ­ — BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73

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ise pianists fear Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto, one of the most fiendishly difficult pieces ever composed for piano. Sergei Babayan, hailed as “one of those chosen few artists capable of transporting us to their universe,” summons Rachmaninoff’s fireworks. Jader Bignamini also leads the DSO in Brahms’s beloved Second Symphony, a picturesque masterpiece from its sunlit first moments to its rousing finale.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Branford Marsalis

BIGNAMINI & BRANFORD Fri. Nov. 12 at 8:00pm Sat. Nov. 13 at 8:00pm Sun. Nov. 14 at 3:00pm Jader Bignamini, conductor Branford Marsalis, saxophone COPLAND El Salón México JOHN ADAMS Concerto for Saxophone & Orchestra ­ — JEFF SCOTT Paradise Valley Serenade (World Premiere)

GERSHWIN/ARR. BENNETT Porgy and Bess: Symphonic Picture

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SO Music Director Jader Bignamini welcomes three-time Grammy Award winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis, for a program exploring American music. The 1930s saw composers such as George Gershwin giving their take on folk music in works such as Porgy and Bess. Meanwhile, the Paradise Valley thrived as the entertainment center of the Black Bottom neighborhood. This era in Detroit’s history serves as the inspiration for a world premiere from composer Jeff Scott.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Hilary Hahn

JADER & HILARY HAHN Thurs. Dec. 2 at 7:30pm Fri. Dec. 3 at 10:45am Sat. Dec. 4 at 8:00pm Jader Bignamini, conductor Hilary Hahn, violin SMETANA Overture to The Bartered Bride DVOŘÁK Concerto for Violin & Orchestra in A minor, Op. 53 ­ — SMETANA The Moldau PRICE Symphony No. 3 in C minor

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ader Bignamini welcomes renowned violinist Hilary Hahn back to Orchestra Hall to perform Dvořák’s violin concerto. Also, Smetana’s two audience favorites, The Moldau and the Overture to The Bartered Bride, and the third symphony of African American orchestral pioneer Florence Price, which had its world premiere in Detroit in 1940.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Vadim Gluzman

DAWSON & BEETHOVEN Fri. Dec. 10 at 10:45am Sat. Dec. 11 at 8:00pm Sun. Dec. 12 at 3:00pm Thomas Wilkins, conductor Vadim Gluzman, violin ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK Fanfare on “Amazing Grace” DAWSON Negro Folk Symphony ­— BEETHOVEN Concerto for Violin & Orchestra in D major, Op. 61

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illiam Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony features three themes taken from melodies he had heard since childhood, having learned them at his mother’s knee. Premiered in 1934 at Carnegie Hall, it was met with audience ovations and critical acclaim. Thomas Wilkins returns to lead a program including Dawson’s often overlooked masterpiece, and Beethoven’s only violin concerto.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Alisa Weilerstein

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION Thurs. Jan. 13 at 7:30pm Jader Bignamini, conductor Alisa Weilerstein, cello ROSSINI Overture to Guillaume Tell (William Tell) DVOŘÁK Concerto for Cello & Orchestra in B minor, Op. 104 ­ — MUSSORGSKY/ORCH. RAVEL Pictures at an Exhibition

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ussorgsky, blindsided by the sudden passing of his close friend Victor Hartmann, turned his pain into art: he composed a suite of musical paintings for piano, inspired by Hartmann’s sketches. Maurice Ravel later brightened this imagined gallery with the colorful orchestral arrangement most recognizable today. Jader Bignamini leads this picturesque work and welcomes cellist Alisa Weilerstein for Dvořák’s Cello Concerto.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Eun Sun Kim

RACHMANINOFF & RODRIGO Thurs. Feb. 3 at 7:30pm Fri. Feb. 4 at 8:00pm Sat. Feb. 5 at 8:00pm Eun Sun Kim, conductor Pablo Sainz-Villegas, guitar TEXU KIM Dub-Sanjo RODRIGO Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar & Orchestra ­ — RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44

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uitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas performs Rodrigo’s quintessential showpiece for Spanish guitar, a fragrant gem that evokes birds, flowers, and fountains in the gardens of Aranjuez.

And Eun Sun Kim conducts Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony, a moody work that hints at the exiled composer’s homesickness for Russia.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Hunter Eberly

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO. 7 Fri. Feb. 18 at 10:45am Sat. Feb. 19 at 8:00pm Sun. Feb. 20 at 3:00pm Jader Bignamini, conductor Hunter Eberly, trumpet COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Symphonic Variations on an African Air, Op. 63 ARUTIUNIAN Trumpet Concerto & Orchestra ­— BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

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eethoven regarded his Seventh Symphony as one of his best works. Its first audience enthusiastically welcomed its rhythmic energy and spontaneity. They also instantly demanded an encore of the second movement, a march-like procession among his most recognizable works.

British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Symphonic Variations on an African Air showcases his vast sense of harmony, color, and scope of instrumentation in his largest purely orchestral work.

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LOWER PRICES Subscribe and enjoy discounts off the regular single ticket price. It’s like getting some concerts in your package for FREE!

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CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Randall Goosby

MAHLER’S “TITAN” Thurs. Feb. 24 at 7:30pm Fri. Feb. 25 at 8:00pm Sat. Feb. 26 at 8:00pm Jader Bignamini, conductor Randall Goosby, violin MAHLER “Blumine” Movement from Symphony No. 1 in D major MOZART Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 ­ — MAHLER Symphony No. 1 in D major

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ustav Mahler carried the symphony from its line of Romantic composers such as Beethoven, Berlioz, and Brahms. His first symphony, aptly named “Titan,” set in motion his legacy as a symphonist with visions of nature, and a finale of thunderbolts and lightning. Speaking of titans, violinist Randall Goosby makes his DSO debut performing Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto.

The New York Times raved that in Goosby’s Carnegie Hall debut he “exerted a masterly level of control and lavished an exquisite tone…his performance won him a deserved standing ovation for its sheer virtuosity.”

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

William Eddins

CLASSICAL ROOTS Fri. Mar. 4 at 10:45am Sat. Mar. 5 at 8:00pm William Eddins, conductor Wynton Marsalis, trumpet Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

WYNTON MARSALIS Symphony No. 3, “Swing Symphony”

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lassical Roots honors and celebrates African American composers, musicians, educators, and cultural and civic leaders. This 44th celebration features Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra who take the stage to perform Marsalis’s own Swing Symphony.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Peter Oundjian

VOICES OF AMERICA Fri. Mar. 11 at 10:45am Sat. Mar. 12 at 8:00pm Sun. Mar 13 at 3:00pm Peter Oundjian, conductor Alisa Weilerstein, cello STILL Poem JOAN TOWER Music for Cello & Orchestra ­ — BARBER Symphony No. 1, Op. 9 JOEL THOMPSON New Work

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eter Oundjian returns to lead a program highlighting a diverse set of voices, including Joan Tower, celebrated as “one of the most successful woman composers of all time,” to William Grant Still, known as the “dean” of African American composers, and a new work by Joel Thompson inspired by James Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son, a collection of essays tackling issues of race in America and Europe.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Isabelle Faust

SCHUMANN & SIBELIUS Fri. Apr. 1 at 8:00pm Sat. Apr. 2 at 8:00pm Sun. Apr. 3 at 3:00pm Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor Isabelle Faust, violin SCHUMANN Concerto for Violin & Orchestra in D minor ­ — SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82

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he strength of the Finnish spirit is alive in a program led by Jukka-Pekka Saraste, including Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony, commissioned by the government of Finland for the composer’s 50th birthday. Sibelius’s Fifth is perhaps best known for its “swan call” motif, influencing musicians from Leonard Bernstein to John Coltrane and songs on the Billboard charts.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Kazushi Ono

BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4 Thur. Apr. 7 at 7:30pm Fri. Apr. 8 at 10:45am Sat. Apr. 9 at 8:00pm Kazushi Ono, conductor Paul Lewis,piano SCHUBERT Overture to Die Zauberharfe, D. 644 (“Rosamunde”) BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 ­ — DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70

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aul Lewis joins the DSO for Beethoven’s serene Fourth Concerto, today a staple of the piano repertoire. Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony was written in a flurry of Czech nationalism – “God grant that this Czech music will move the world!” the composer wrote.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Nicolas Altstaedt

SALOME’S SEDUCTION Fri. Apr. 22 at 8:00pm Sat. Apr. 23 at 8:00pm Fabien Gabel, conductor Nicolas Altstaedt, cello BONIS Salomé, Op. 100 ANDERS HILLBORG Concerto for Cello & Orchestra (US Premiere) ­ — STRAUSS “Salome’s Dance” from Salome, Op. 54 SCHMITT La Tragedie de Salomé, Op. 50

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eductive and persuading, Salome’s dance before Herod appears in depictions across all art forms, ranging from medieval artists to Rita Hayworth. Conductor Fabien Gabel returns to lead the DSO in a program of musical gems inspired by an original femme fatale, evoking the Frenchinfused programs of the DSO’s former Music Director Paul Paray.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Jader Bignamini

BIGNAMINI CONDUCTS BEETHOVEN 9 Thurs. May 12 at 7:30pm Fri. May 13 at 8:00pm Sat. May 14 at 8:00pm Sun. May 15 at 3:00pm Jader Bignamini, conductor Performers from Opera MODO & AUDIVI, choir HANNAH LASH In Hopes of Finding the Sun ­ — BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125

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erhaps the most iconic piece of classical music ever written – especially its heart-swelling “Ode to Joy” – Beethoven’s influential Ninth Symphony celebrates brotherhood, forgiveness, and the quest for peace. Jader Bignamini conducts this bucket list symphony, a sheer joy to experience in a live orchestral setting.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Jean-Yves Thibaudet

THIBAUDET: RAVEL’S PIANO CONCERTO IN G Fri. May 20 at 10:45am Sat. May 21 at 8:00pm Sun. May 22 at 3:00pm Jader Bignamini, conductor Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano Eric Nowlin, viola Wei Yu, cello CARLOS SIMON Fate Now Conquers RAVEL Concerto in G major for Piano & Orchestra ­ — STRAUSS Don Quixote, Op. 35

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ean-Yves Thibaudet joins Jader Bignamini to perform Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, inspired by the composer’s tour of North America, where he first became smitten with the sounds of jazz.

DSO Principals Eric Nowlin and Wei Yu take the spotlight in Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote, a tone poem portraying the adventures of the “ingenious” man from La Mancha.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Karen Gomyo

SAINT-GEORGES & MOZART 39 Thurs. May 26 at 7:30pm Fri. May 27 at 10:45am Sat. May 28 at 8:00pm Xian Zhang, conductor Karen Gomyo, violin ELIZABETH OGONEK In Silence SAINT-GEORGES Violin Concerto No.1 in C major, Op.5. ­ — MOZART Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major, K. 543

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n a program highlighting composers of the Classical era, violinist Karen Gomyo returns to the DSO to perform the First Violin Concerto of Joseph Bologne (Chevalier de Saint-Georges).

Known as both a champion fencer and violinist, his concertos offered a way to demonstrate both his expressiveness and virtuosity. We also hear one of the famed late symphonies of another eccentric personality, Mozart’s majestic Symphony No. 39.

CLASSICAL PROGRAMS 2021-2022

Gil Shaham

GIL SHAHAM RETURNS Fri. Jun. 10 at 8:00pm Sat. Jun. 11 at 8:00pm Sun. Jun. 12 at 3:00pm Jader Bignamini, conductor Gil Shaham, violin WYNTON MARSALIS Fanfare BARBER Violin Concerto ­ — WYNTON MARSALIS Blues Symphony

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eloved by audiences across the globe, violinist Gil Shaham returns to Detroit to join DSO Music Director Jader Bignamini to perform Barber’s Violin Concerto on a program also featuring two works by internationally acclaimed musician, composer, and bandleader Wynton Marsalis: his Fanfare and Blues Symphony.