“(…) the ebullient Stéphane Denève turned out to be what was needed at the Kimmel Center concerts (…)
Each piece was given its own sound envelope. Denève tapped into the minute details of Debussy’s sprawling orchestral descriptions of Spain, Scotland, etc., giving the music an almost 3D physicality, though not with the usual soft-focus Impressionist lens. Strings had a raw edge; this music isn’t merely pretty.
(…)
An American in Paris is as close as Gershwin came to writing a four-movement symphony, though he was having too good a time to do anything more than wave hello to more strict classical music forms. Denève’s relaxed opening tempo kept the piece from climaxing too soon, but he also supplied the loose-limbed funkiness that later passages needed.”
