Detroit retains maestro to the 30s
OrchestrasThe Detroit Symphony Orchestra has handed a contract extension to Italian conductor Jader Bignamini, taking him into the next decade. By the time he needs to sign on again in 2031, Bignamini will have put in 11 years at Motown.
He shares duties at the DSO with jazz chair Terence Blanchard and incoming pops conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez.
Report here.
Excellent news. Serious and committed.
Who on earth would downvote this comment??
Sadly, Detroit and Bignamini have become an unknown quantity in the US. In recent decades the orchestra still had some public recognition with Leonard Slatkin, Neeme Jarvi and Antal Dorati at the helm – they were making recordings then. But Detroit joins a long list of other fine orchestras whose work is largely unknown outside of their geographical location.
Detroit has always operated a bit under the radar, and nobody is making recordings. They actually have one of the better online presences.
The free online streams are a delight and great publicity. Not many American orchestras do that on a regular basis as much as Detroit (and Minnesota, for that matter). Really enjoyed the Seejungfrau a few weeks ago.
Thanks for letting us know…
Agree with J Barcelo, and I think the key phrase is “they were making recordings then.”
The same Detroit-related comment could be made about my long-ago hometown orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony. Made an enormous number of Cincinnati Pops recordings (Cincinnati Pops is essentially the Cincinnati Symphony in red jackets instead of black), and a smaller number of maintream classical recordings by the full Symphony itself. Then Telarc got bought up and got out of the classical business, and that was the end of CSO national/international visibility, notwithstanding that its music director for the past decade has been Louis Langrée, a fairly well-known and visible “name” on both sides of the Atlantic.
I think that, in the U.S., blame can also be laid at the feet of the so-called “public” broadcasting system, which has for the most part abandoned classical music (or thinks that Andrea Bocelli and André Rieu are sufficient for that purpose), or presents just an occasional performance from New York. To look at PBS, a person would never know that there are superb orchestras, absolutely worthy of wider exposure, in other cities across the U.S. But as J Barcelo comments, they are now known mainly in and around their home bases.
Totally agree that Cincinnati is a great orchestra that made a lot of good recordings for Telarc (and earlier for Vox under Michael Gielen). But they’ve never had a very high profile domestically or internationally, and even in their own state are overshadowed by another well-known group.
Agree, “overshadowed” but in my view not “inferior to.” Cleveland still benefits to a certain extent, even now, from the Szell mystique (I’m not using that word as criticism), and the fact that Cleveland was being recorded more frequently, and earlier, than Cincinnati.
I believe that another potential cause of disparity in the perception of these two orchestras is their recorded sound “legacies.” One of my recurring disappointments with the Telarc recordings in Cincinnati is that, although made in the orchestra’s home at Cincinnati Music Hall, there is (to my ears) a sort of “thickness” or “density” to the sound, and Telarc’s miking technique almost never captured the sense of spaciousness and “air” of hearing a live performance there. Teldec and Decca made some acoustically marvelous recordings in Cleveland–and that’s the way many people “know” this orchestra and why many people understand to be its sound–but they typically recorded Cleveland in the Masonic Auditorium, not the orchestra’s own Severance Hall.
Don’t forget Paul Paray, who made may fine recordings with them.
While they do have an impressive live streaming platform, I would hope that their management has aspirations of international touring. That’s how reputations get polished. I’m sure Detroiters would get more interested in their orchestra if its presence was more famous in the US and abroad too.
The list of major or significant US orchestras (based on the League of American Orchestra’s categories) that cannot afford international touring on any sort of regular basis nowadays, to have their “reputations get polished,” when they already play at a high level, is not short.
It should include the Seattle Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, the San Diego Symphony, the Utah Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Nashville Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Baltimore Symphony — at a minimum.
Any “extra” funding would be far better spent on these orchestras making at least a few commercial recordings on a consistent basis or setting up some sort of limited streaming platforms if they do not already have one. If touring is to be attempted by these orchestras, the good old-fashioned trip to Carnegie Hall is a far more suitable ambition.
In almost all cases, the archival recordings of these orchestras, taken or made from live performances, are broadcast on local radio station websites (accessible worldwide) or even the orchestra’s website itself.
The real audience for the vast majority of major US orchestras should be their local, regional, and state populations. Most else is mostly illusory.
The local, regional, and state populations generally know how well their orchestras are playing, and that can only help with attendance. I suspect that having these major US orchestras attempt to tour internationally is mostly a “vanity” project, and plays little to no role in increasing local, regional, or state-level interest, attendance, and support over the long-term.
Actually, they have some of their concerts available worldwide through streaming. I’ve been enjoying these very much, and their high standard of playing.
Hey boomers, “recordings” aren’t a measure of anything anymore these days. Detroit is very well known outside of its geographic location thanks to an excellent free video streaming service, where anyone from around the world can admire the excellence of these musicians almost every week. They are way ahead of most of their US competition on that front.
I was lucky to catch a live stream of their performance last week and I was very impressed. Perhaps it’s microphone magic, but to my ears it really sounded like one of US’s great orchestras. They have my attention and hopefully they start to travel so that I can see them live.
The DSO webcasts some live concerts on their own site in excellent video/audio quality. I enjoyed a Tchaikovsky 6 last night. They also syndicate their concerts – KKGO broadcasts them regularly here in LA So, it takes a bit of sleuthing, but they are out there.
Listened to Bignamini conducting NSO a couple of months ago due to Noseda’s illness. Excellent!
Indeed. Respighi’s Roman trilogy. Terrific conducting and playing.
It was very good indeed, but a program consisting only of the Roman Trilogy is short measure. Yes, it was Noseda’s choice, but still…
It used to be that the Roman Trilogy was played in the second part of a concert, with something else in the first part. But these are the days…
Kirill Petrenko is performing exactly the same program (the 3 works) with the Vienna Phil in Vienna in April. I might go……….and I won’t feel shortchanged. The days of Thomas Beecham and two hours plus of music are long gone I’m afraid.
Yes. Rather like yourself Maestro, Bignamini is a terrific conductor who knows what he’s doing. I traveled to Detroit a couple of years ago to hear a Respighi program (guilty pleasure) in the wonderful acoustic of Orchestra Hall in Detroit (just a fabulous auditiorium). Terrific performances (I went to the program twice) and opening with a string piece by Mazzoli which Bignamini conducted from memory. Back in the day this orchestra recorded for Mercury with Paray (the recordings still sound fantastic) and later for Decca with Dorati and more recently still with Slatkin (Naxos) – great Rachmaninoff. I wish the orchestra would come to NYC as it once did occasionally and they should certainly be making recordings!
Is he really that good? I haven’t been too impressed with the little I’ve heard, but I bow to those who’ve heard much more.
Yes he is. Give him another whirl…
He’s better in some rep than others. I’ve found his chatty introductions before the music annoying at times. But the orchestra is really gelling after going on a hiring spree following their strike and then the pandemic. The webcasts are a must-see in my book, and the production standards have been increasing under Marc Geelhoed’s direction.
I’m impressed by their $75 million endowment and plans to record more.
The DSO has a great history and a bright future!
I saw him lead a wonderful Beethoven 8 in May, along with the premiere of a new concerto by Carlos Simon. Sunday matinee performance, and it was packed with a wonderful and diverse audience. I was very impressed with him!
I have heard this conductor live 3 time w: the DSO. Each time I was more impressed w/ the noticeable growth in the ensemble under his baton. This orchestra was always a fine one that over many years, has the typical ups and downs, the latter most recently when the DSO suffered another of the frequent $ challenges many US orchestras have faced, resulting in the resignation of many principals and other fine musicians. This orchestra is like the Rise of the Phoenix from Harry Potter. Can’t wait to hear his Mahler #9!!