Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer.
Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His father, Felix Slatkin, was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet, and his mother, Eleanor Aller, was the cellist with the quartet. His brother, Frederick, a cellist, traced the family's original name as Zlotkin, and adopted that form of the family surname for himself professionally. Frederick Zlotkin spoke of the family lineage as follows:
Slatkin studied at Indiana University and Los Angeles City College before attending the Juilliard School, where he studied conducting under Jean Morel. He also studied with Walter Susskind at the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Slatkin's conducting debut was in 1966 when he became artistic director and conductor of the award-winning New York Youth Symphony, and in 1968 Walter Susskind named him the assistant conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. While in St. Louis, Slatkin hosted for three years a weekly KDNA radio station program called The Slatkin Project. He left St. Louis in 1977 to become music director of the New Orleans Symphony.
He led a series of Beethoven festivals with the San Francisco Symphony during the late 1970s and early 1980s. These annual concerts, held during June, included the orchestra's final concert in San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House in 1980, which featured a performance of Beethoven's ninth symphony.
Slatkin returned to Saint Louis in 1979 as music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. The national profile of the orchestra increased notably under his tenure, and the SLSO became one of the most acclaimed orchestras in the country. The ensemble toured and recorded frequently and impressed critics and audiences alike with its fine musicianship and creative musical direction. In 1985, he recorded the first digital stereo version of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker with the SLSO. (This was also the first complete Nutcracker issued on compact disc.) Upon the conclusion of his tenure in 1996, Slatkin became the SLSO's conductor laureate. His recorded work with that orchestra was represented on RCA Victor Red Seal, EMI, Vox Records, and Telarc. Slatkin became a devoted fan of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team during his tenure in St Louis and has retained his interest in the Cardinals since his departure from St Louis.
Slatkin was the director of the Blossom Festival of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1990 to 1999. Slatkin was music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. from 1996 to 2008. Noted for putting the "national" back in National Symphony with programs highlighting twentieth-century American works, Slatkin received both praise for improving the overall quality of the orchestra and criticism for under-rehearsal of the NSO. Slatkin was a guest conductor for the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra.
In 2000, Slatkin became the chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, he was only the second non-British person to conduct the Last Night of the Proms (the first had been an Australian, Sir Charles Mackerras). This performance occurred in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and included changes to the traditional second half of the concert, most notably a performance of the Barber Adagio for Strings in honor of the victims. He held this post until September 11, 2004, the 110th Last Night. There were reports of tension between Slatkin and the orchestra, whose secure finances were said to have "fostered a culture of superiority and recalcitrance," as well as negative concert reviews, which contributed to his short tenure with the BBCSO. Previously in the UK, Slatkin was principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra from 1997 to 2000 and made a series of digital recordings for RCA with them, including the symphonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams. In 2004, the Los Angeles Philharmonic named him principal guest conductor at the Hollywood Bowl for a two-year period; he was subsequently given a third year in the position, with his tenure ending in September 2007. In 2005, he became the principal guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London.
Hub AI
Leonard Slatkin AI simulator
(@Leonard Slatkin_simulator)
Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer.
Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His father, Felix Slatkin, was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet, and his mother, Eleanor Aller, was the cellist with the quartet. His brother, Frederick, a cellist, traced the family's original name as Zlotkin, and adopted that form of the family surname for himself professionally. Frederick Zlotkin spoke of the family lineage as follows:
Slatkin studied at Indiana University and Los Angeles City College before attending the Juilliard School, where he studied conducting under Jean Morel. He also studied with Walter Susskind at the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Slatkin's conducting debut was in 1966 when he became artistic director and conductor of the award-winning New York Youth Symphony, and in 1968 Walter Susskind named him the assistant conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. While in St. Louis, Slatkin hosted for three years a weekly KDNA radio station program called The Slatkin Project. He left St. Louis in 1977 to become music director of the New Orleans Symphony.
He led a series of Beethoven festivals with the San Francisco Symphony during the late 1970s and early 1980s. These annual concerts, held during June, included the orchestra's final concert in San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House in 1980, which featured a performance of Beethoven's ninth symphony.
Slatkin returned to Saint Louis in 1979 as music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. The national profile of the orchestra increased notably under his tenure, and the SLSO became one of the most acclaimed orchestras in the country. The ensemble toured and recorded frequently and impressed critics and audiences alike with its fine musicianship and creative musical direction. In 1985, he recorded the first digital stereo version of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker with the SLSO. (This was also the first complete Nutcracker issued on compact disc.) Upon the conclusion of his tenure in 1996, Slatkin became the SLSO's conductor laureate. His recorded work with that orchestra was represented on RCA Victor Red Seal, EMI, Vox Records, and Telarc. Slatkin became a devoted fan of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team during his tenure in St Louis and has retained his interest in the Cardinals since his departure from St Louis.
Slatkin was the director of the Blossom Festival of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1990 to 1999. Slatkin was music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. from 1996 to 2008. Noted for putting the "national" back in National Symphony with programs highlighting twentieth-century American works, Slatkin received both praise for improving the overall quality of the orchestra and criticism for under-rehearsal of the NSO. Slatkin was a guest conductor for the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra.
In 2000, Slatkin became the chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, he was only the second non-British person to conduct the Last Night of the Proms (the first had been an Australian, Sir Charles Mackerras). This performance occurred in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and included changes to the traditional second half of the concert, most notably a performance of the Barber Adagio for Strings in honor of the victims. He held this post until September 11, 2004, the 110th Last Night. There were reports of tension between Slatkin and the orchestra, whose secure finances were said to have "fostered a culture of superiority and recalcitrance," as well as negative concert reviews, which contributed to his short tenure with the BBCSO. Previously in the UK, Slatkin was principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra from 1997 to 2000 and made a series of digital recordings for RCA with them, including the symphonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams. In 2004, the Los Angeles Philharmonic named him principal guest conductor at the Hollywood Bowl for a two-year period; he was subsequently given a third year in the position, with his tenure ending in September 2007. In 2005, he became the principal guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London.