“Adieu to a bold alliance: the final week”

The Herald’s Michael Tumelty interviews Stéphane Denève, prior to his final week with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra:

Michael Tumelty The Herald
SO here it is: the final week of Stephane Deneve’s directorship of the RSNO and the last programme from the big French musician who has been, cumulatively, such a huge influence and had such a massive impact on his ever-growing Scottish audiences. (…)

“This has been my first musical directorship. In my very first programme I conducted Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, the Suite. So now, seven years later, in my last programme, I will conduct this most iconic French masterpiece, Daphnis and Chloe, complete, with the two choruses.

“And I definitely wanted some Scottish music in the programme, so the idea of James MacMillan’s Britannia came very easily. We played it on our first visit to Paris. I am so, so glad to have met James MacMillan, and so glad to have discovered his music. And I will leave Scotland with a new piece of James MacMillan that we will premiere in Stuttgart with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra at the end of next season.” (…)

Meanwhile, back in Scotland as this, his final week, loomed, he had a few thoughts on his tenure. “I’m so passionate about music that I want to share it. And one of the most proud things for me was to offer music to more people, more young people. And the numbers in the audience are the evidence. And I think you noticed that, over the seven years, the mood, the feeling in the hall changed.

“I’m also very proud that the audience has not only allowed me to be myself, but to discover who I am. That’s something big for me, as this has been my first position as a music director.” And the RSNO? “The main thing with the RSNO has been the generosity of their playing. In every concert people have given a lot. I’ve been quite satisfied that we gave it all we could: I never felt betrayed by the orchestra. I’m very proud of the level of their playing. You really feel you are the captain, that you hold the tension and the motivation.

Read the whole article on The Herald here

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