葉維與史拉特金接受媒體專訪，為新樂季造勢

隨著新樂季的展開，我們可以看到一大堆樂團指揮家接受專訪的新聞報導。紐約時報當然不可避免的是以新任音樂總監Alan Gilbert與大都會歌劇院的新版Tosca為報導主軸，而每一個城市也都會以當地樂團為主角，底特律與辛辛那提當地報紙便分別專訪了史拉特金與葉維。

之前曾經提到大紅人葉維（Paavo Jarvi）一人身兼辛辛那提交響樂團、法蘭克福廣播交響樂團、布萊梅德意志室內愛樂與巴黎交響樂團四項職務，怎麼可能忙得過來呢？葉維在回答辛辛那提當地報紙專訪時表示：「完全沒有問題！」

It's all planned. I am managing to open and close all three orchestras' seasons.. I will be spending more time in airplanes than anywhere else next year, but everyone is going to get what they expect. I'll spend 13 weeks here, 14 in Paris, 10 in Frankfurt, a few with Kammerphilharmonie, and a few weeks guest conducting.

看來，葉維打算花在剛接手的巴黎的時間最長，老巢辛辛那提的時間差不多，法蘭克福則略少，布萊梅似乎排在最後面，雖然葉維即將率領該團前往薩爾茲堡音樂節演奏全套貝多芬交響曲全集，成為有史以來第二個這麼做的樂團！

另外，隨著Telarc公司不再自行製作錄音，在即將發行最後一張Holst《行星》錄音之後，2009-10樂季將是辛辛那提樂團在葉維率領下頭一次沒有錄音計畫，葉維說，一切還在討論中，可能另尋其他唱片公司合作（談何容易...）或發行自有品牌（更困難了...）。另外，本樂季也是九年來葉維頭一次沒和大眾樂團的康澤爾（Erich Kunzel）分享指揮權，訪談中，葉維將康澤爾與伯恩斯坦、卡拉揚與蕭提相提並論，認為那個有著偉岸人格的時代隨著大師們的凋零而一去不返...

甫接任底特律交響樂團音樂總監的史拉特金（Leonard Slatkin）在10日1月新樂季首場音樂會一口氣安排三首美國作曲家巴柏（Samuel Barber）的作品，特別接受底特律當地報紙專訪，談論這位即將度過百歲冥誕的作曲家，儘管史拉特金以指揮巴柏而著稱，也曾與聖路易交響樂團錄下幾部巴柏作品，像是在Telarc的《弦樂慢版》（Adagio for Strings）或是與Elmar Oliveira合作的小提琴協奏曲，都是演錄俱佳的名盤。但是，引以為憾的是史拉特金並不曾不曾和巴柏本人見過面，在與巴柏熟識的鋼琴家John Browning一再提起他，史拉特金並與其合作灌錄巴柏鋼琴協奏曲後，這樣的感覺更加強烈，而且他對巴柏音樂中的文學性推崇有加～

Of all the composers, he seemed to be the most interested in finding connections between literary form and music. Hence, we have the "Essays," which were conscious decisions to find a way to infuse the formal structure of writing with the formal structure of music. Why that appealed to me was that in the one period of my life when I got out of music, I was an English major. Apparently, Barber was never seen without two or three books under his arm. He was always reading.

對於巴柏被稱為「美國布拉姆斯」，在古典的形式中散發著濃郁的古典氣息，史拉特金也有其獨到見解～

Musically, he was more connected to the 19th Century than the 20th. His three concertos are all virtuoso vehicles in the 19th-Century mold. The First Symphony I find an extraordinary formal structure. There are really only two tunes running through the whole thing, but by the time you get to the end, you don't actually realize that what you're hearing is the same thing you heard at the beginning but completely transmogrified. It's unbelievable -- this facility to manipulate ideas into the formal structure is unlike most composers I know today or through most of the 20th Century.

史拉特金還提到每次聽到歌劇《凡妮莎》（Vanessa）中的詠歎調"Must the Winter Come So Soon?" 都會炫然欲泣，為了這句話，筆者決定打完這篇網誌後，一定要把CD找出來聽看看...

另外一個好消息是，美國Andrew W. Mellon Foundation去年8月便宣布贊助90萬美金，提供未來三年底特律交響樂團發行CD錄音。目前已經規劃的5張CD中，其中有4張將由Naxos公司發行（另1張由Koch發行）：

◆ Edgar Meyer/Bela Fleck/Zakir Hussain Triple Concerto (recorded live on Jan. 9-11, 2009) with Slatkin and the DSO (on Koch) with a planned release date of August 2009;
◆ Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 (to be recorded live Sept. 24-27, 2009) and Vocalise (to be recorded live Sept. 11-12, 2009) with Slatkin and the DSO (on Naxos) with a planned release date of winter 2009/2010; （按照規劃，史拉特金將指揮底特律交響樂團為Naxos灌錄拉赫曼尼諾夫交響曲全集，這將是他的第二套拉氏交響曲全套錄音）
◆ Alla Borzova's Songs for Lada (recorded live Jan. 15-17, 2009) and To the New World (to be recorded live Sept. 24-27, 2009) with Slatkin and the DSO (on Naxos) with a planned release date of spring 2010;
◆ Hannibal Lokumbe's Dear Mrs. Parks (to be recorded live Mar. 6-8, 2009 at the DSO's Classical Roots concerts) with Thomas Wilkins and the DSO (on Naxos) with an undetermined release date;
◆ Michael Daugherty's Route 66, Motor City Triptych, Fire and Blood, Raise the Roof (recorded live at select performances from Sept. 1999 to Oct. 2003) with Neeme Järvi and the DSO (on Naxos) with an undetermined release date.