Clarence Fanto The Berkshire Eagle
“(…) Among the night’s greatest pleasures was guest conductor Stéphane Denève’s stylish, swaggering romp through Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” arguably among the composer’s most popular orchestral works. As a Parisian in America, Denève was especially ebullient on the podium as he reveled in the taxi-horn cacophony depicting the street life of the French capital in the 1920s.

He was equally at home in the bluesy, highly syncopated portrait of an American visitor’s longing for home amid the frenzied re-creation of Paris as experienced by a stroll through the heart of the city. The BSO responded to the conductor’s enthusiasm with a crisp, well-honed performance that brought out the Gallic spirit mixed with Tin Pan Alley that Gershwin sought to convey.

Denève has turned in consistently fine performances here over the past two summers — since he has expressed a desire to spend more time in the U.S., frequent and extended re-engagements would be appreciated by his many admirers. (…)”

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