Denève, Thibaudet join SLSO in an exciting new work
"(...) Stéphane Denève is one of the most exciting conductors on the international scene today. With him came Jean-Yves Thibaudet, one of the world’s great pianists, in a noteworthy new work....
Denève brings an imaginative twentieth-century program to the SFS podium
"(...) Denève’s command of hushed dynamics was equally effective in his opening of Barber’s Adagio. (...) While I have always had a personal preference for the intimacy of the quartet setting, Denève’s...
Stokowski comes back to the Bowl
"(...) The 42-year-old Denève is a rising star in classical music. He was recently named principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra (Stokowski’s old group) and is now a regular...
Kavakos on Fire in Familiar and Profound
"(...) Denève did not just facilitate an accurate performance, but also brought out Debussy’s magical dreamscape, to be enjoyed through every instrumental nuance, while maintaining...
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra: The tormentor, the witch and the ghost
"(...) The forces of abandonment, madness and death combined at the end in the "Symphonie fantastique," which Stéphane Denève vividly -- no, viscerally -- conducted to crown the program. (...) It...
Tanglewood: Happy birthday, and farewell
"(...) Saturday’s program wandered off the beaten track to include the first Tanglewood performance of the 1933 Violin Concerto No. 2 by Karol Szymanowski. Violinist Leonidas Kavakos, a deeply...
Denève raises the stakes for imaginative orchestral programs
""(...) The peripatetic life is the conductor’s lot, especially for someone like Denève, who is in increasing demand thanks to his energetic musicianship and imaginative programming. But it is one he...
Stéphane Denève nommé premier chef invité de l’Orchestre de Philadelphie
"For the French speaking friends of Stéphane, a very nice article in the Diapason Magazine about Stéphane's new position with the Philadelphia Orchestra! Stéphane Denève nommé premier chef invité de...
Idiomatic, Stylish Command from Denève and Lewis
"This was a concert of massive proportions—with a full hour of music in each half—and, happily, of no less massive achievement. “I hope,” I wrote after his last appearance on the Benaroya...
Gil Shaham and Stéphane Denève get playful with Bartok
"More important, there was a sense of playfulness now in Shaham’s Bartók that wasn’t there before, (...) With Denève poking around the score revealing all kinds of strange details that the...
Pianist Lewis, maestro Denève keep audience on edge of seats
"(...) It was a great evening for the French-born conductor, who opened the program with some spoken program notes explaining the genesis of the first work: the U.S. premiere of Scottish composer James...
Denève Conducts a Choreographic Concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra
"One of Stéphane Denève’s greatest strengths as a conductor is his astute dramatic sensibility. (...) Denève brings an undeniably operatic drama to works that he conducts in the symphony hall. He began his...
Deneve’s return to CSO marked by pretty fantastic Berlioz
"The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is relying on a handful of familiar guest conductors to take charge of subscription concerts through the end of the calendar year. None of these returnees is more welcome...
CSO captures the intense spirit of Shostakovich concerto
"(...) guest conductor Stéphane Denève’s incisive, well-conceived take delivered the punch in the gut Shostakovich surely intended. (...) Denève and Ehnes captured the manic spirit of the Scherzo, which...
“All time best” Poulenc
Two of Stéphane's recordings selected for the "all time best" discography of Poulenc's music in the November issue of the french magazine Diapason! [gview...
High-class Mahler from a winning team
"(...) Stephane Denève’s Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra make an astonishing rich, dark sound. (...) Denève’s tempi were well-chosen in the extreme – the first movement’s march theme never feeling...
Toronto Symphony in vividly fine form with James Ehnes and Stéphane Denève
"(... ) Over the past nine years of regular visits to Toronto, Denève has proven himself to be a reliably fascinating musical sculptor. Thursday was no exception as he led a programme that consisted of an...
Stéphane Denève conducts the Boston Symphony Thursday night
"In his recent visits to the BSO podium, the energetic French conductor Stéphane Denève has been peppering his programs with overlooked works by familiar composers. This summer he led the Tanglewood...