Thursday, November 12th, 2009 | by William Guy Barast

The second concert in the DTE Energy Foundation’s DSO Pops Series, Disco Days and Boogie Nights, opened this morning to a large and very enthusiastic crowd. I wasn’t quite sure at first how I felt about an entire concert of music from the’70s; however, after less than five minutes I’ll admit that I was hooked!

Conductor Jack Everly led the DSO, the male a cappella vocal group Chapter Six and singers Anne Beck, Farah Alvin and N’Kenge in a high-energy traversal of the decade that not only left no stone unturned, but also left this listener with an ear-to-ear grin for the better part of two hours. READ MORE

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Thursday, October 29th, 2009 | by William Guy Barast

This evening’s concert by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra featured a program tailor-made for a Halloween weekend: Samuel Barber’s warm, romantic violin concerto was bookended by two darker, more introspective works; Latvian composer Peteris Vasks’ Musica Dolorosa for string orchestra and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique.” The DSO was led by guest conductor Andrey Boreyko. READ MORE

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Friday, October 23rd, 2009 | by William Guy Barast

This morning’s concert by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra proved to be the perfect tonic for a dreary, rain-soaked Friday.

The program was guaranteed to please, offering the perfect blend of the familiar and the less-well-known. On the menu: Barber’s Essay No. 1 for Orchestra, Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Dvorak’s bucolic Symphony No. 8. DSO Conducting Assistant Charles Greenwell was on the podium. READ MORE

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Friday, October 16th, 2009 | by William Guy Barast

Tonight’s concert by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with Principal Guest Conductor Peter Oundjian was an absolute tour-de-force and a treat for fans of big, romantic-era orchestral music.

The program featured Beethoven’s Fidelio Overture, Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde and Gustav Mahler’s massive Symphony No. 7. READ MORE

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