Our last show of the season brought an oldie but goodie back to SLSO. Leonard Slatkin was the music director of SLSO from 1979 to 1990. There was no official music director this season, since David Robertson concluded his tenure last year, and Stéphane Denève doesn't officially start as Music Director until the upcoming season. He was the Music Director Designate this season.
So, to fill some of the gap, Leonard Slatkin came to conduct Leonard Bernstein, among others. The show started with a new piece, Smothered by Sky, by a young composer named Loren Loiacono. As with much of contemporary music, I was not a fan. I appreciate that Slatkin is an advocate of young composers -- even if they're not quite my speed.
Second was Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor. As with so much of Rachmaninoff, it was a lovely (if somewhat long) piece.
Last up was Bernstein's Symphony No. 3, Kaddish. Here's the problem with Kaddish. It's a prayer. Which means it's a Biblical story. Which means it's really not my thing. It did have the benefit of being a choral piece, so it gets automatic bonus points for that.
That was our last show -- not my favorite, but not a total bust.
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