LEONARD SLATKIN

CONDUCTOR | COMPOSER | AUTHOR

There is no “perfect” in music. If I were ever to come off the
stage feeling that the performance could not have been
better, it would then be time to quit.

LEONARD SLATKIN

CONDUCTOR | COMPOSER | AUTHOR

There is no “perfect” in music. If I were ever to come off the stage feeling that the performance could not have been better, it would then be time to quit.

LATEST NEWS

Elite Recordings for Vox Re-Released
By leonard slatkin
November 29, 2023

Naxos has released audiophile editions of two acclaimed Vox recordings conducted by Leonard Slatkin and featuring the first and third symphonies of Rachmaninov. Karl Nehring of Classical Candor characterized the albums as “excellent performances, excellently recorded, making them eminently recommendable for fans of these gorgeously tuneful symphonies.”

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leonard slatkin
Rave Reviews in Spain
By leonard slatkin
November 9, 2023

Music critics offered positive assessments of Leonard’s concerts in Valencia and Madrid. Writing for Scherzo, respected writer and composer Tomás Marco characterized Slatkin as “an interesting and reliable maestro who accompanied Achúcarro very well and in the second part made an excellent version of Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1.”

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leonard slatkin

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DECEMBER 2023

By leonard slatkin

To say that November was a jam-packed month would be an understatement. With the middle portion of a six-week concert tour in full swing, I realized that no two works would be repeated during this trip. Only one of them was new to me, however, and as I explained in last month’s journal entry, The Fountains of Rome became an old friend during the first stop back in October.

Continuing in Spain, I moved on from Valencia to Madrid. In times’ past, the country, in general, was not a pleasant place to make music. Its resident orchestras were undisciplined and did not possess the musical values I was used to in other parts of the world. That has changed drastically over the past fifteen years or so, with exciting and vibrant music-making now taking place throughout Spain, even in smaller cities.

Leonard Slatkin

Internationally acclaimed conductor Leonard Slatkin is Music Director Laureate of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Directeur Musical Honoraire of the Orchestre National de Lyon, Conductor Laureate of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria. He maintains a rigorous schedule of guest conducting throughout the world and is active as a composer, author, and educator.

A recipient of the prestigious National Medal of Arts, Slatkin also holds the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor. He has received the Prix Charbonnier from the Federation of Alliances Françaises, Austria’s Decoration of Honor in Silver, the League of American Orchestras’ Gold Baton Award, and the 2013 ASCAP Deems Taylor Special Recognition Award for his debut book, Conducting Business. His second book, Leading Tones: Reflections on Music, Musicians, and the Music Industry, was published by Amadeus Press in 2017, followed by Classical Crossroads: The Path Forward for Music in the 21^st Century (2021). Two volumes of a new series comprising essays that supplement the score-study process are scheduled for release by Rowman & Littlefield in 2024. He is also working on several new compositions.

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