St. Louis Symphony Orchestra | Denève's Ultimate Romance

SLSO's main hall, Powell Hall, has been beautifully renovated this season. Coincidentally, Music Director Denève curated an exceptionally romantic program, so I made sure to attend and show some support. First, let’s talk about Powell Hall: This hall, much like those in Vancouver and Oregon, seems to have been designed by the same architectural firm. If there’s no riser on the stage, the best acoustic experience in practice is usually from the upper levels. However, tickets for the first three rows in the orchestra section are only $20—a steal for anyone! It’s an honest deal that also lets you enjoy the soloists up close. Denève excels in French music, and I personally appreciate conductors of this style (like Marcourt). They are adept at bringing out the brilliant sheen and vibrant colors in French music, with a particularly fluid sense of rhythm. When they incorporate these qualities into Romantic music from other countries and cultures, it often sparks unexpected brilliance. As for Denève himself, his conducting gestures are a bit clumsy, reminiscent of Kumamon 🐻, but the music under his baton—well, let me tell you, it’s truly something special. The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in the first half was my fourth time hearing it this year—can’t help it, I’m just deeply in love 😍! Snyder, a frequent guest in Chicago, feels like an old friend by now. His interpretation of the Tchaikovsky isn’t overly dramatic but is filled with restrained beauty, and the tempo is on the slower side. The cadenza in the first movement was exquisitely performed, though I found it odd that there was no pizzicato (?). Another distinctive feature was how the second movement began with an almost imperceptible pianissimo. The entire concerto was recorded for a disc, but an elderly man kept coughing in a rather disgusting manner 🤢. Snyder even joked about it during the encore, saying, “You coughed right on time.” The second half featured Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, and as I mentioned, Denève infused it with the luminous qualities of French music. The SLSO is remarkably balanced across its woodwind, brass, and string sections—no single instrument overshadows the others, yet each section’s presence is distinctly felt. This is especially valuable when performing a work with such rich textures. Denève’s interpretation of the second and fourth movements emphasized dramatic shifts and resonant brilliance, reminiscent of Marcourt’s approach to the second movement of Beethoven’s Ninth. The irresistibly romantic third movement is always a joy to hear. Under Denève’s direction, the profound beauty born from deep sorrow was rendered with poignant intensity. 😊🎻✨🎶 #ClassicalMusic #SLSO #Denève #Tchaikovsky #Rachmaninoff #MusicReview #PowellHall